Cavern Walks unveils festive window displays designed by local students

With just a few weeks to go until Christmas Cavern Walks has unveiled a series of festive windows designed by first year undergraduates from Hugh Baird College.

The boutique shopping centre teamed up with first year students from the Foundation Degree course in Visual Merchandising and Promotional Design to find the next big talent in retail window design.

The brief was to create a seasonal window concept that reflects the personality of the store and is consistent in look and feel with the retailer’s current branding.

Over 30 designs were put forward for stores including celebrity favourite Boudoir Boutique, designer childrenswear store Kids Cavern, menswear retailer Weaver’s Door and Nail Nation, a specialist nail salon.

The overall winner of the competition was Kate Dennett who created a bespoke winter equestrian theme for Boudette, the younger, edgier, sister store to flagship retailer Boudoir Boutique, to tie in with new season clothing by traditional English brand Barbour.

Centre Manager Stan Yarker said: “We were incredibly impressed with the caliber of student submissions in terms of both the thought and creativity invested in each design, as well as the ultimate visualisation of each concept. Kate’s design reflected Boudette’s individuality and showcased some of the store’s signature brands with a seasonal twist. It’s exciting to know that the future of the industry will thrive in the hands of the impressive talents developing at educational level.”

Runners up include Leona Nicholas who designed a country themed window for heritage menswear brand Weaver’s Door featuring snow covered piles of wood and pine cones, Robyn Turner who designed a Christmas woodland theme for Kids Cavern, and Scott Jones who created a glittering Marilyn Monroe window for Nail Nation.

The lecturers who deliver the Visual Merchandising and Promotional Design Course at Hugh Baird, which is validated by the University of Central Lancashire, added: “The competition was a great opportunity for students to work to a live brief and overcome the various challenges that this brings – the experience is a valuable addition to what they learn in the classroom.”

Winners were chosen unanimously by Jennifer Morris Marketing Manager from Cavern Walks, lecturers Angela O’Brien and Collette Mawdsley from Hugh Baird College, and Louise Dalrymple, a professional visual merchandiser with years of experience working for a high-street chain.