Mannequins
and of course we only have to watch a few period dramas to see how corsets altered the shape of our ancestors. With the average woman of today a size 16, are we now going to see size 16 mannequins hitting our high street stores?
Equalities minister Jo Swinson is at the helm of a government drive to promote body confidence among women, and argues that the lean mannequins that populate shop windows do not represent the shapes of modern women. “The images we see in the world of fashion are all pretty much the same — it’s as if there’s only one way of being beautiful.” Many stores still use size 10 dummies to display clothes and more often than not have to pin clothes to make them fit. Swinson reserved praise for Debenhams which has a relatively diverse range of models and mannequins. The company's Oxford Street store is preparing to display a range of size 16 mannequins, “I would really like to see more retailers doing the same. Many customers want to see more realistic images in magazines, TV and on the high street, and having mannequins that reflect and celebrate our diverse society is a really positive way of helping to achieve this.” Ultimately mannequin sizes are determined by the clothing, so is this the natural progression? Or, can we expect to see more funky
Top Left: Image
courtesy of Hindsgaul. Middle Left: Victorian bust form by
proportion>london. Bottom Left: ‘Sketch Accessories’ collection by Window Mannequins. Right: Streetwise Mannequin by Rootstein.
designs as the mannequins of the new era step forward?
More and more retailers are pushing the boundaries when it comes to store design so it’s only natural that this will filter through to their mannequins. proportion>london excitedly reveal “In terms of mannequin trends we believe ‘abstract’ is the way forward. Like all our collections we offer both realistic and abstract but the demand for abstract far outweighs that for realistic, much of this is due to budget and staffing constraints as well as styling needs. Without giving too much away our future developments will especially focus on mannequin articulation… so watch this space!”
Also instrumental in the development of mannequin design are global players Window Mannequins. Their new design is set to be revolutionary in retail, the abstract form has a video screen set to the face and can be used with or without audio to further enhance displays. ‘Emotion’ is already generating interest from popular department stores
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www.a1retailmagazine.com
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