Gene Moore and Tiffany & Co.

Hello fellow merchandisers! Today I wanted to talk about someone who revolutionized the world of store windows. Now, I love merchandising with furniture/interiors, but there are some great ideas that came from Tiffany’s windows and can be translated to any store. In the history of Visual Merchandising, one of the first great window dressers was Gene Moore. He decorated 5,000 windows for Tiffany’s while working there over his 39 year career. He took the windows from boring linear arrangements to creative and awe-inspiring works of art. Before working at Tiffany, Gene Moore was at Bergdorf Goodman. “At a time when the theory of window display was to cram in as many mannequins displaying as much merchandise as possible, Mr. Moore created interest simply by clearing away the clutter and limiting a single window to one or two mannequins, but always in such a startling pose of situation that they were sure to draw attention.” After leaving Bergdorf Goofman, Gene Moore moved on to Tiffany & Co. where he continued to revolutionize the art of window display. So what did Gene Moore do at Tiffany that was so magical?

1.       He worked with a tiny space- Tiffany windows are 3’ high, 22” deep, and a maximum 4.5’ across. Even in that small space he caused stopped people in their tracks.

2.       He used intimate objects for his displays that weren’t “product”- from a toy truck, burlap, moss, sheet music, bricks, and fishhooks, to lettuce nothing was too sacred to pose with the diamonds.

3.       He wasn’t trying to sell- “Don’t try to sell anything; we’ll take care of that in the store” is what the chairman of Tiffany’s told Moore when he started in 1955. (Kind of reminds me of Anthropologie’s emphasis on having a beautiful environment).

4.       He could see beauty everywhere- “I show people things they’ve looked at before but really haven’t seen- like dirt. Dirt can be beautiful” said Gene Moore. He also saw beauty in broken glass and ice. One of his windows showed a block of fake ice and leaning against it was a pair of tongs that pinched a large diamond.

5.       He used actual art in his displays- Gene Moore loved modern art- he used concepts or actual works from Jasper Johns, Alexander Ney, and Andy Warhol. He wanted to be an artist when he grew up- that love of art was apparent in his windows.

6.       He had one idea- this single idea was designed to catch the attention of the passer-by. He kept it simple and made people stop with that one idea.

So here’s what I take from Gene Moore- don’t take window display too serious! He used fantasy, beauty and wit, and combined the extraordinary with the ordinary to create miniature worlds. I can do the same with furniture (P.s. Here's a movie that's a quick snap shot of this). Also, there is major importance in a good store window! It can stop pedestrians and get customers to think about your goods in a new way. Moore’s motto was “make people stop” I can use his ideas to do the same.

Another great resource on this subject is the book GeneMoore wrote himself “My Time at Tiffany’s.” (Note, affiliate link used). Sounds like a good read to me! He chronicles his windows and how he became the window dresser for Tiffany.

I have also included some Tiffany display pictures I have taken in London and Salt Lake. I love those tiny windows!

Sources for Text:
The Economist
People
NY Times