All that wonder is a lot of work
NEIL STEINBERG nsteinberg@suntimes.com November 1, 2011 6:08PM
Tim Morrison, project manager for Kinc Chromize, works on a window display at Macy's on State. | Richard A. Chapman~Sun-Times
Updated: December 3, 2011 8:12AM
‘Steampunk” is an idea that has been around for a decade or two, but in case you are not familiar with the term, it refers to a melding of 1890s fashion with industrial design — think of a robot in a top hat, or the cover of a Jules Verne novel. It is not a concept heretofore generally associated with Christmas, but that might change after Saturday, when Macy’s unveils this year’s holiday windows along State Street, which feature, not elves hammering toys, nor Harry Potter, nor Paddington Bear, but a fantasy of airships and golf clubs, gears and corsets, all built around the idea of modern celebrity designers turning their wishes into Christmas ornaments.
“One of the themes you’ll see throughout the windows is something called ‘steampunk,’ ” said Macy’s spokesman Kamal Bosamia. “Victorian meets high-tech.”
Aptly, the tradition of Christmas windows at the State Street store — purchased in 2005 by Macy’s — goes back to the Victorian age itself, to 1897, when Marshall Field’s window design wizard Arthur Fraser began creating highly popular Christmas windows, and journeying downtown to see them became a holiday tradition for Chicagoans.
Planning this year’s windows began last March, when representatives from Macy’s three flagship stores — San Francisco, New York and Chicago — got together.
“We each start with our ideas and put it into a big pot,” said Jon Jones, visual director at State Street. “What’s really exciting about this year is we’ve gone back to a company that produced the windows in the past, Spaeth Design of New York. They’ve built the Marshall Field’s windows for years.”
Spaeth’s seven Christmas windows include dancing Victorian marionettes and an ethereal vessel of white gauze, merging a sailing ship and a zeppelin.
“That’s the Make-a-Wish vessel that collects the wishes and dreams and hopes of our celebrities,” said Jones.
Around the end of World War II, the Christmas windows began having themes and story lines — one, “Uncle Mistletoe” in 1946, had his own TV show, an attempt to imitate the success of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which began as a Christmas coloring book for Montgomery Ward. Following years brought themes like Letters to Santa or “The Search for the Great Tree.”
“We’re trying to be relevant,” explained Jones, adding that “really understanding the values and traditions behind the windows,” helped inspire this year’s theme, “The Making of a Celebrity-Inspired Ornament.”
Jones stood on the sidewalk in a light rain last week, looking at one half-done window featuring three large gears, each showcasing a different celebrity designer: Martha Stewart, Betsey Johnson and Michael Kors.
“Each of the gears is what makes one of the ornaments,” said Jones. “All of this imagination coming together.”
Three nutcrackers span within one gear.
“What we love about it is the little detail of the little knee-high stockings, which is very Betsey Johnson,” said Jones. “We even tricked out the nutcrackers to look like Betsey, with the longer, crazy hair.”
Below, dangling black spindles.
“This is Michael Kors; he’s got the great black pattern that goes on his ornament,” Jones continued. “Everything’s in a cog or a gear. We are taking our celebrities’ wishes and dreams and infusing all of that together, and the output is their ornament. We are selling the ornaments . . . and then a portion of that goes to Make-a-Wish Foundation.”
There was still much to do, like covering the window base in salt; kosher salt, ironically, since its coarseness resembles snow.
Don’t expect green and red this year.
“We’re not doing a lot of color,” said Jones. “It’s clean and white, almost pristine.”
Inside window No. 10, Aaron Maier, 23, a carpenter who lives in Queens, was making wooden boxes for objects in the windows to rest on, and was busy removing boards from bubble wrap and screwing them together.
“Sure, it’s just a few windows,” he said. “But there’s mystery behind Christmas. It’s not just marketing and selling stuff. It’s nice, one of those things people look forward to.”
The windows go on view Saturday at 10 a.m. and can be seen through Jan. 8. The 14 celebrity ornaments cost $9.99 apiece, with $1 of that amount going to Make-a-Wish.
