Visual merchandising specialists, The Bernard Group out of Chanhassen, Minnesota, have a client list that features some of the top retailers in a variety of categories to include companies like: Kate Spade, Best Buy, Sephora, Delta and West Marine. Their extensive knowledge of the retail market is showcased in their fixtures and merchandisers seen in stores nationwide.

In a challenging project for the team, they were tasked with creating an attention-grabbing window display for luxury department store, Lord & Taylor. The window featured Lord & Taylor’s winning dress of the Project Runway Challenge. The display, according to the Bernard Group, was showcased in the store’s “legendary New York flagship during NY’s Fashion’s Night Out.” “Fashion’s Night Out” has been an NYC event since 2008, where models, designers, celebrities and shopping enthusiasts spend a night at their favorite retailers with live music acts and events. The challenge for the team was their restrictive lead-time, which only gave them three days to engineer, produce and install the display.

The team produced a 6-foot tall, 1.5-inch thick black Gatorfoam scissor for the display. Scissors are an icon for the Project Runway Show, where up-in-coming fashion designers impress a team of celebrity judges creating their own designs from scratch. The CNC-cut Gatorfoam scissor was hand-applied with “specialty-sequined paper,” explains the team. Stating further, “A 1 inch black Gator circle plug was created to be used as the scissor hinge.”

Gatorfoam is incredibly lightweight, which often makes it a choice material for window displays as it can be easily transported and moved. The durability of the polystyrene foam enables the material to be saw-cut and routed with ease, offering designers the malleability of a foam board with the strength of a heavy-duty graphics solution.

information courtesy of The Bernard Group