Mannekin admist a bed of roses

The brief of this project is to create two displays with a somehwhat late baroque, pre-French reovolution look for the grand opening of a wedding shop in an high-end mall in Hong Kong. Opulence, excessive decoration and generally OTT are the images that come to my mind.

(Left) Main entrance (Right) Vanity table with cake

For the larger display, which is located close to a flight of steps outside of the shop, a large of rose ‘garden’ is created to highlight the display, which consists of a mannekin dressed in an empire style wedding gown and a lavishly decorated cake placed on a mirrored vanity table. Flowers here play a pivotal role in conveying the image of excess. They are literally everywhere, from the wig of the mannekin to the vanity table, and all the way to the row of roses at the bottom of the display.

I choose roses for their particular associations with the romance and love, which are also appropriate for weddings as they are also symbols for marriage and devotion. Colours used mainly consist of a variety of whites and off-whites, with some pinks and purple thrown in, plus a dash or deep red here and there.

Hard at work

The general effect is a rich, yet consistent picture of refinement. Flowers are used as a visual link between various disconnected elements such as the mannekin and the cake, providing coherence and a storyline for the whole composition.

A muted tone is used for the instore display

For the smaller display, which is located inside the store, I opt to interpret the language of excess in a more muted tone. White, pale blue and a hint of flesh colour form the palette for the display. Since the space is a narrow one, I have made use of the height of the display case and turned it into a vertical composition. Draping ribbons in various shades of white and silver from branches of roses and peonies is a good way to fill out the space without making it looking too crowded.

To finnish it off, a bouquet lying casually in a silver bowl and a bottle of champagne complete with crystal glasses aptly conclude the wedding story.

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