Subject: Visual Merchandising

Session: 7
Content: Light and Lighting, Mannequins, Fixtures

Jagriti Mishra,NIFT, Gandhinagar

 Mannequins
• Mannequins available in various sizes and
age groups.
• Change in hairstyle and poses provide
freshness
 Types of Mannequins
Realistic
– More natural, more true to life
– Male/ Female/Child
– Make up and wig
– Mannequins pose can decide the class of customers
suggested.
– Erect Mannequin with slight bend to the arm suggests or a
subtle weight to the hip is ideal for showing formal or
elegant clothes
– When action clothes are shown, they look even more
sportier when mannequins is all angles and directions.
– Seated mannequins add to the variety and interest to the
arrangement of 2-3 mannequins.
– Where display areas have low ceiling, sitting, kneeling and
bending mannequins can work effectively to show
separates, casual wear, and active sportswear.
– Horizontal mannequins can be used for nightwear,
swimwear, sportswear etc.
 Types of Realistic Mannequins
• Misses or missy size mannequins
• Female mannequins: Size 8, 5’8” – 6’ tall,
34” bust, 23-24” waist, 34” hips, Shoe size:
6.5-8.5
• Junior Mannequin(32-22-32), 5’7”- 5’9” tall
• Junior petite mannequin(5’5”)
• Petite mannequins(5’- 5’4”)
• Preteen mannequins
• Male mannequin(6’)
 Accessories for realistic mannequins

• Wigs: Hard wigs, soft wigs

• Alternative eyes in open eye sockets
 Semi realistic Mannequins
• Proportional or sculptured like realistic, but
more decorative or stylized
• Black and white
• Preferred in case of male mannequin as
realistic ones look less masculine
 Semi abstract
• More stylized and decorative than the
semi realistic
• Suggestive, painted hair
• Doll like and decorative
• Popular priced than elegant in appeal
 Abstract mannequins
• Creating an overall effect rather than
creating lines and proportions
• Little attempts to specify features
• Available in different finishes
• Suitable to every theme, age.
 Headless
• No face , no personality , no image
• Cheaper than realistic
• Can be used in a ceiling that is low
 Alternatives to mannequins
• A three quarter form
• Soft Sculpted figures
• Articulated artists figure
• A dress form
• Cutouts
• Inflatable
• Draper
• Hangers
• Laydown techniques
• Pinup
• Flying
 Importance of store lighting:

• Can dramatize the merchandise providing

proper illumination to create desired
atmosphere.
• Merchandise presentation can be
established with eye-lights to distinguish
excitement, visual organization and flow
through the space.
 Planning window Lighting
• The light level and the color of the light in
the store create the ambience,
(welcoming, depressing??)
• Visual clarity/ illumination
• highlight
 Types of Lighting
• Incandescent
• Fluorescent
• HID
 General or primary lighting
• Level of allover illumination in an area
• It is usually the light which fills the selling
floor from overhead light fixtures
 Fluorescent Lighting
• Least expensive and most efficient fixture
to use from a point
• Warm/ Cool
• Cool- Diamonds, silvers, kitchen supplies,
complete no for general in an apparel
MBO
• Fluorescent light fixtures can be filtered,
shielded, softened with grids, baffles or
diffusing panels
 Incandescent lighting
• Used for warmth, for emphasis and
highlighting
• Expensive to install and use
• Incandescent spotlights are high voltage
bulbs and are also called par bulbs
• Floodlights are incandescent bulbs frosted
with glass envelopes
• Can also be hung in chandelier, drop lights
 HID Lighting
• Energy efficient
• Smaller in size
• Provide shadows and highlights
• Mercury type HID: Green
• Metal Halide: Blue
• Sodium : Yellow
 Secondary or accent lighting
• Glare or overly light can be detrimental to
selling
• Creation of shadows and highlights
• Candle lit chandeliers
• Accent or focal lighting can not only
highlight the merchandise but make it
stand apart from the other merchandise.
 Colored lights and filters
• The primary colors of light are red, green
and blue
• The three colors mixed will create white
• Secondary colors include magenta, cyan
and amber.
• The display person should be specially
concerned with mixing of colored light
which is accomplished by colored filters
and gels
 Suggestions for using light effectively

• Avoid bright lights directly on mannequin’s

face, elbows or shoes
• Brightest lights for merchandise
• Colored lights in props and backgrounds
• Lights across a display
 Fixtures
• Are the furniture of the store
• Comes in all the sizes and can be
arranged to create look of the store
• Selection of right accessories and details
create the personality or image of the
selling space.
 Stands
• Comes with an assortment of tops that
may be slipped interchangeably into an
adjustable rod set on weighted base.
• The top element could be
– Straight Rod with a Stroke of T.
– Hanger Top/ Draper
– Assortment set up
 Platforms and Elevations
• Platforms and elevations are buildups used to
provide interest and to help separate
merchandise in mass displays
• Could be any shape -cubical, cylindrical / any
size
Costumers, Valets and Drapers
• Costumer is a freestanding fixture unit
used on a floor, ledge, counter
• It has a hanger set onto the top of an
adjustable upright with a skirt bar at
bottom
• Used to display Coordinates, e.g. a skirt
under a blouse .
 Valet
• Has a heavy hanger along with a slacks
bar
• Used in menswear mostly
• Can also include a shoe platform raised off
the floor
 Draper
• A hanger on a stand without a skirt or
slacks bar
• Compact Fixture
 Easels
• An adjustable folding frame or tripod
• May be used in display to hold price cards
or message
• Arty type operations
• Accompany mannequins in display
sometimes.
 Pipe racks
• A utilitarian fixture with wheels, made of
round tubing
• Doesn’t show off merchandise
 Counters or Showcases
• Selling field
• Showing, holding and selling merchandise
• More movable with changing times
 Assorted Counter Fixtures Pilfer
Proof Fixtures
• Designed to show off merchandise in their
best way
• Pilfer proof units for safety
• Mirror is used in cosmetics and jewellery

Ledge Fixtures
• Set at or above eye level
• Must be careful if displayed at eye level.
Floor and Freestanding Fixtures
• Round Racks
• T- stands
• Four ways
 Other Fixtures
• Kiosk
• Outpost
• Three part rack
• C- rack
• Étagère
• Vitrine
 Selecting a fixture
• Appearance
• Construction
• End use
• Upkeep
• Finishes