If the window display is a fairytale, then Michelle De Neys is the fairy godmother who creates the fairytale and makes it magical.
By Kamila Sukhanova.
Have you ever felt that something is so beautiful that it takes your breath away for a second? The way your eyes start to spark when you stop suddenly walking in the middle of the road. Almost making you feel like a little kid who saw for the first the magic, the shimmer and the power of boutique windows.
We all know the power the right decorated display could hold. If you have watched ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’, you will remember the beginning of the movie. When the main character, Rebecca Bloomwood, says, “When I looked into shop windows, I saw another world. A dreamy world full of perfect things”.
But who are those people that are capable of creating these dreamy worlds? The answer is simple. It’s window dressers, the ones like Michelle De Neys.
“I always dress the windows, so I stand outside for twenty minutes and watch people. I think you have something like three seconds to people captivate the window. If people just walk past…I know I’ve done my job wrong”
Michelle has been in the industry for 35 years as a visual merchandiser and window dresser. Her journey started pretty early when Michelle’s parents wouldn’t allow her to get academic knowledge at college. For a 16-year-old girl, it was the moment to listen to her heart and understand what she truly wanted.
Young Michelle didn’t give up. Moreover, she was so determined that she sent letters to around 60 companies. The action wasn’t left with no response. At that time, the company, ‘Sock Shop’, took her as an apprentice, and she began travelling around the UK doing their windows, still being 16.
Michelle didn’t stop there. At 19, a young visual merchandiser decided to go self-employed. She said, “I didn’t make any money, but I had the greatest time. I did a lot for record companies, including backstage stuff for Madonna and George Michael. It was only £50 job, which is not a lot of money. But I absolutely loved it”
There should be something that pushes you to have such courage to follow your dreams at a young age. For Michelle, it all started with her granddad. He was a dispatch rider who began to work for the British Shoe Corporation after the war.
At the British Shoe Corporation, Michelle’s grandfather was responsible for making displays. He would create with his team a mock-up window at the head office and then send the pictures to individual shops, which made him the first person to do such things. So it is not surprising that Michelle was inspired to follow his path as a window dresser.
“Windows should always tell a story, and that should also flow into the store as well. It’s really important”, says De Neys
There is no secret recipe for creating a successful window. It’s all about the vision and the client’s requirements. For Michelle, it is essential to have a perfect balance of both. As a visual merchandiser, she prefers to have her displays over the top, dramatic even. Some of her ideas go viral, as happened for the MINI UK window at the Olympic Stadium, where Michelle added Union Jack hair on mannequins to make them less plain.
It is impossible for the display to turn out perfectly without knowing what’s behind the brand. There are essential parts like colours, materials, style and taste that need to be figured out in order to create something magical. Something that could grab the best expressions attracted to the window. Michelle told me, “I always dress the windows, so I stand outside for twenty minutes and watch people. Because I think you have something like three seconds to people captivate the window. If people just walk past…I know I’ve done my job wrong. But, If they stop and they are looking, I know I’ve done it right.”
When it comes to ideas, there is an unstoppable chain for people who are in the creative industry. You are constantly searching for inspiration, which for some, like Michelle, is easy to find. She would take pictures of things that she would find interesting for her future projects during her walking days in London.
One of her favourite windows that she did was for a clothes shop without a proper budget. Michelle decided to buy loads of ribbons and glue them at the top and the bottom with the spectrum of colour going across.
“It was one of the best windows. I have done so simple but stunning. I can remember going to central, and it was copied all over London”, says De Neys
The first big project is always memorable. Being nervous at the interview is a normal thing, even if it is with BMW. What’s important is to stand on your values and not be scared to share them.
At that time, Michelle didn’t have a team, so she was up against two other major companies.
However, it didn’t even matter when she started to deliver her work ethic focusing more on the people, the product and the vision. BMW chose Michelle, and their partnership has already been on for 20 years.
But it wasn’t just the first project with a high-end brand. For Michelle, it was proof that she managed to achieve what 16 years old Michelle couldn’t even possibly dream of. She said,
“It’s a passion for me. I love what I do, and after 35 years, I’m not bored with it even for a bit. I genuinely love it every day”
Currently, Michelle is focused on visual merchandising consulting and her company, ‘MDN‘. As her path began earlier than usual, De Neys decided to mentor people and share her knowledge gotten from all these years as a window dresser. She told me,
“When I was younger, I had the old one who took me under their wing and showed me the ways. Now, that’s kind of what I’m doing. It’s all about what you give and get back with kindness”
Seeing beautiful window displays would be different from now on. They would not only capture your attention but also make you wonder if one of them was dressed by the talented Michelle De Neys herself.