"No, the light goes higher-higher.…right there, OK."
In the show window of the Honey House Boutique, two young men were adjusting spotlights to focus on a mannequin. The exquisite interior design of the show window naturally arrested the eyes of passersby. In a crowded, commerce-centered city like Taipei, such show windows are hardly unique. They are, in fact, a normal part of the regular daily environment for the city's two million residents.
Changes in seasons and fashion are the two major forces governing show window displays. Comfortable, light-weight summer materials like batiste, organdie, and percale are now in season. The styles tend to be easy going, casual, and colors tend to be bright and contrasty—and brought more alive via the artistic flair of the show window designers.
Lin Shien-feng, just 22 years old, is show window designer for a small boutique on Nanking West Road. He sees the purpose of his show window arts as "focusing consumer purchase demand by finding a theme for the products, and then presenting the theme properly in ways that will appeal to customers."
His main consumer-target is teenagers, so his show windows are glittery with color and newness. Some vivacious mannequins in loose clothes and jaunty shoulder bags make a cute impression. Posters of Michael Jackson dominate the corners of the show space.
"Designing a show window really takes a lot of professional skill" In the coffee shop which occupies the basement of the store, Lin lit another cigarette. "We must be very accurate in our choices. Through magazines: movies, pop music, we must detect what will be on top in fashion. Of course, the public can find it out for themselves, so we must be faster. We use light, color, and arrangement to present the mood of a new fashion."
A designer of show windows, after identifying a fashion theme, begins to conceive possible ways to stage the window, to make the form placements, and to exploit the lighting. When his ideas become clear, he starts to make a sketch, then finally draws up a finished perspective. The new show window display will accord with the perspective.
Chen Chui-kun, a show window designer for amen's clothing store, explained the process from completion of the perspective: "Then we select proper stage effects for the window display. For example, my original plan was to use a plaster column as a support, but I found it would be too heavy for the window stage. So I shifted to wood and then applied plaster to the wooden surface of the column. It was exactly what I needed.
"After all the stage effects are produced, it is time to tear the old window apart and set up the new one; yet we must wait till the last to do it—We must complete both destruction and creation on the same day, otherwise it will be a waste for the company."
Usually it takes Chen five to ten days to come up with the idea and then complete a brand new show window.
Though show window designing is a Western innovation, it is no problem to do a window with a Chinese flavor. I'm Fashions does this. A garish ritual lion's head hanging in its entrance is the first, quick attraction. I'm's window designer, Chu Chi-liang, discussed the choice of a lion's head: "It is a symbol of fortune ... " he began, but then admitted, "The real purpose is to attract the attention of the shoppers."
I'm's styles are very Chinese. Its patrons are mostly mature local career women and overseas Chinese women visiting Taiwan. Chu recalled the reaction of a Chinese woman who had returned on a visit from the United States after an absence of forty years and, spotting the shop, walked in: "I can't believe after all these years that I can still find such a choice in traditional Chinese fashions." Chu felt proud, and touched.
Most show window designers have a tendency to use strong colors to get attention, but Chiu Shian-jun, owner and window designer for a small fashion store, prefers a quieter approach: "What I like to present is original but 'ordinary' displays. People think that all art is for appreciation and should keep a distance from real life. But I believe that art is to be lived in everyday life."
As in any other art form, the different show window artists produce different effects. Thus, various aspects of life and design are presented. The show windows on Taipei streets are another real reflection of life on Taiwan.