Forefront : The Culture of Shop Window Design

A pane of glass, no more than three inches thick, separates store from sidewalk. On one side, an air-conditioned interior welcomes those who can afford the merchandise inside; on the other, from the weather-beaten street, passersby may, in the time-honored ritual of window shopping, look for free. Window retail displays of the high-end kind, in which a temporary mise-en-sc ne presents expensive merchandise, have been neglected as a design discipline although they play a significant role in our consumer culture. Forefront features displays by such designers as Simon Doonan, David Hoey, John Field, Janet Wardley, and Kozo Fujimoto, in venues including Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Gucci, Herm s, Moschino, Shreve, Crump & Low, and Vin on. Window dressers and window shoppers alike will delight in this colorful parade of displays.