Fairytale - Hermès Window Display

~ INSPIRATION ~

“Lullaby and good night, In the sky stars are bright...
Close your eyes now and rest, May these hours be blessed.”

Traditional English Lyrics, Brahms' Lullaby

Can you believe this popular melody by Johannes Brahms was composed in 1868?! It is magical how, since ancient times, mothers all over the world have used the same way of singing to their young children before they go to sleep.

Inspired by the hypnotic spell of lullabies, while putting my little niece to sleep, I sunk into my memories. Looking through the eyes of a child with that naive and wild imagination, I was day-dreaming and "saw" myself into a diversity of scenes about fluffy clouds in the skies, wrathful waves in the oceans, lost treasures on the bottom of the seas, starry landscapes of the Moon, camel caravan in the deserts, and the secret of the forests.

When I woke up, I just felt I have to sketch my visions and that is how I created the "Fairytale" store window display for Hermès.

~ THE FINAL WORK... ~

...consists of 4 big window displays (H1300 x W1700 x D900 mm) and additional small-scale displays in-store. Like an open book, each of them takes you to a different adventure while travelling the world.

Each piece of the display is carefully handmade in a childish manner, painted with watercolors on thick aquarelle paper, stuck on acrylic cutout back to make it strong and stay flat. To bring the story to life, the Hermès products are dynamically merchandised as main characters in the scenes.

~ CONCEPTION ~

This handmade booklet shows my very first ideas. It was used to present the concept and later on develop into the final work. The booklet is made of the same paper used for the actual paintings, and sketched using black markers only, giving the impression of a children's coloring book.

~ IN THE MIDDLE ~

There was a long journey for me too. Between the very first sketch and the final work I had to go through every single element of the display and to actually make them with my two hands. Fish and anchor, clouds and dandelion, rocket and Moon surface, camels and sand dunes, shark and sea horses, mushrooms and hedgehogs, ocean waves and...

A huge floating leaf-boat!