Through the shopping glass: The tradition of the Christmas window

The Fenwick window display has been a Christmas tradition in Newcastle for more than 40 years

An exhibition charting the window displays of Christmases past has opened in Newcastle. But do these annual themed displays deserve such recognition - or is the Christmas window simply a marketing trick to hook in passers-by during the busiest shopping weeks of the year?

From the fantasy world of A Christmas Carol and Gulliver's Travels, to the latest designer collections, Christmas windows have become as much of a tradition as the turkey and the tree.

Offering the first peek of the products available in store, a well-dressed window can be the difference between the consumer passing by or walking in.

Such displays have traditionally featured such staples as the fairytale story or nativity play, although more unusual themes have included Christmas from an alien's perspective and the children's TV series Camberwick Green.

Fenwick's Christmas in Another World theme in 2002 was not popular among the public

A pair of sparkly red shoes the height of a double-decker bus replicated an iconic scene from The Wizard of Oz at Harrods in 2009

Others have been more overtly promotional with stores filling their windows with "festive" displays crammed with designer goods from the likes of Burberry or Stella McCartney.

'A mini army'

However, Rebecca Marks, consultant at retail analyst Conlumino, believes that the current trend is moving away from such blatant commercialism.

"More and more we are seeing retailers focusing their displays and advertisements more commonly on a story than their products, increasing the meaning of their overall offer to exhibit the 'magical' Christmas journey which can be had in store." she said.

"Consequently, consumers love playing into the story and the entertainment of it, and an enjoyable store experience may not only play a part in purchases, but it can also drive repeat visits."

At Harvey Nichols the team look at fashion trends and catwalk collections for their inspiration

At what is possibly the UK's most famous department store, Harrods, the Christmas window discussions begin each year in January, with a team of about 20 working on the concept over a 10-month period.

The head of visual merchandising at the London store, Alexander Wells-Greco, said the "mini army" of 63 visual merchandisers input and share their ideas in order to cover the "plethora of categories" from womenswear to toys.

The idea behind this year's display at Harrods is a "Christmas for everyone" - with the specific theme of Once Upon a Christmas, named after the popular children's movie.

"We started to think about what families did together around Christmas time, from going shopping to going the theatre, and that's where our concept of theatre scenes and storytelling really stemmed from," said Mr Wells-Greco.

"A key target for us this year was to really engage and interact with families, with children becoming the main focus and hero of the season."

Installation is a lengthy task, taking about 110 hours across 40 windows

Below the featured designer's items are scenes of Christmas mice preparing for the festivities, at child's eye level

To make this concept a reality, the windows on the Brompton Road store were raised by 60cm to create under-floor theatre scenes at child's eye level - below brands including the likes of Balenciaga and Rosalind Miller.

Crashing Santa

At Newcastle department store Fenwick, the annual display is seen as a Christmas institution, with thousands gathering on Northumberland Street to see the magic unveiled.

The display is now in its 44th year, and has inspired the Fenwick Unwrapped exhibition at the city's Discovery Museum.

This Christmas, the store's 30ft-long animated window takes adults and children on a journey through a fantasy world.

The display is viewed as if from a bedroom window on Christmas Eve - each section follows the story as Santa Claus flies over the skies of Gateshead and Newcastle before crashing into the store's chimney.

The finishing touches are applied to the Christmas windows at Selfridges

The world of windows

-Macy's in New York is said to have pioneered the tradition of the Christmas window in the 1870s

-Although the animations in the window displays of the grands magasins in Paris are said to have inspired Fenwick

-Le Bon Marché's first Christmas window was in 1893 - later followed by Printemps, Galeries Lafayette and Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville. Today, these competitive displays attract close to 8 million tourists and Parisians during the festive period

-In the UK, stores such as Hamleys, Selfridges and Fortnum and Mason have followed suit

-Harvey Nichols' first Christmas windows were installed in the 1890s - to create this year's disco-theme, the firm's flagship London store used about one million flakes of glitter, 620 mirror balls and 540 baubles

-Selfridges in London unveiled its Journey to the Stars Christmas windows in October. Work on the display started in June with 500 staff working a total of 32,000 hours to bring their ideas to reality

From Camberwick Green to Santa's Christmas Party, the Fenwick team says it is a "challenge" to make each year's window different

As with Harrods, the design process for the following Christmas's storyboard begins early, with a team from Fenwick meeting the production design team in November to plan for 13 months ahead.

The ideas and initial illustrations are agreed in the first few months of the year, and work on the models, music, lighting and sets takes several more months.

"Inspiration can come from anywhere, whether that is a general Christmas theme, classic stories, fairy tales or something more traditional," a Fenwick spokesman said.

"The key element is always to make it different from previous years, which can be challenging considering the long history of the animated windows.

"It's always the traditional themes which prove the most popular."

And when the Christmas season comes to an end, the props are often used in other displays and theme parks around the world.

Gulliver's Travels featured in 1984 and 2006

The Fenwick spokesman added: "The windows are now an integral part of Newcastle's festive period and bring people from across the region into the city centre.

"The intention of the animated windows is to have a display that appeals to a family audience, both children and adults alike.

"It is not a commercial venture so does not feature any brands; it is our way of giving something back to the North East."

Fenwick Unwrapped is on display at the Discovery Museum until 10 January.