The art of window dressing

This is not just for decoration, but for customers to get an idea of how items of clothing will look together and entice you to buy them.

Thabo Khoza is a freelance display artist.

He started working in this industry at Mr Price and then moved to Woolworths. He then worked at Foschini's, before becoming a freelance display artist.

Khoza's passion for visual merchandising started when he was in school, when he would advise his friends on the clothes they should wear, what worked well together, and what suited them.

"A successful display artist needs to know the various trends, colours and fashion of the season," he says.

Khoza is the founder of 1st Impression Enterprises, an image consultancy and visual merchandising organisation.

His company offers various services, which entail fully merchandising a store so that it has an appeal to its target market, giving tips on what music to play to match the shoppers' profiles , and advise on staff dress code so that customers feel they understand their sense of style, among other things.

Basics

A display artist is also known as a window dresser or visual artist. The average salary starts at about R5,000 per month.

Job description

A display artist goes to various stores and consults with the store manager regarding the displays or dressing they have been commissioned to do.

The display artist will work in various departments, with a specific theme, or on whatever the store manager has in mind regarding visual merchandising.

The display artist dresses the store mannequins. He or she is also responsible for conceptualising, designing and implementing window and in-store displays.

Pros and cons

"The pros are that you never have a limitation on learning. You are always visiting new malls and seeing different fashions," says Khoza.

"The cons," he says, "are that some store managers don't listen to your advice and shoppers or customers who complain."

Required studies and experience

The requirements vary but Khoza recommends doing a diploma in fashion studies, adding that one needs to have a passion for fashion and a natural talent, as it is not something that can be learnt.

Personality types

Firstly, you should have the right attitude, be presentable, vibrant, creative, informative and interested in fashion.

You should also be forward-thinking, concerned about the future, and know what's going on in the world and have passion for surfing the internet.

An average day

As a freelancer Khoza's time is his own but typically he will start his day by surfing the internet, followed by meetings with clients to advise them on fashion and visual merchandising.

Throughout the day, he will move from one store to another and he usually spends three to four hours with each client.

The best thing about the job: "There is lots of learning and there is no limitation to your creativity. You can mix and match colours as you see fit."

The worst thing about the job: "There is no time to relax and you need to be informed 24 hours a day, seven days a week," says Khoza.

His future dream is to eventually become an area manager, where he would be responsible for checking the displays at various stores around the country.

Source: Sowetan