BALLY | Chinese New Year Window Display

Bally Chinese New Year window for the Year of the Rat

In October 2019 VANDA Designers presented Bally with a window display concept for the 2020 Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rat. The project includes three window proposals and two coordinated red envelopes, designed as a gift for boutique customers. The project remained at concept stage.

CULTURAL RESEARCH FIRST

The work began with a study of Chinese tradition, to build a visual language that speaks respectfully and clearly to an Asian audience. The research gathered the typical elements of the celebration: red and gold, lanterns, fortune symbols, red envelopes, mandarins and the zodiac sign of the year. It also identified the codes to avoid: black and white, the colours of mourning; the number four, considered unlucky; gifting shoes, which brings bad luck; the Western association between the mouse and cheese, foreign to Eastern tradition and to Chinese eating habits.

FIRST PROPOSAL: METALLIC LAYERS AND LANTERNS

The first proposal brings together two elements of Chinese tradition: paper lanterns and geometric fortune decorations. The window is built with two layers of metal sheet perforated with the decorative pattern. The outer layer stays perforated and casts shadows inside, while the rear panel is lined with a red screen that closes the window. Between the two planes, illuminated lanterns, each with a small LED, hang from light tracks. An arched opening frames the product, displayed on a table that fits into the panels. As an alternative to metal, the pattern can be applied as adhesive film, for a more adaptable and ecological result.

The coordinated red envelope carries the geometric pattern in gold and closes with a tassel. Inside, along with the traditional greetings, the customer finds a DIY paper lantern with the Bally logo: the envelope’s closing tassel becomes the lantern’s decoration.

SECOND PROPOSAL: THE ORIGAMI BALLY MOUSE

The second proposal is inspired by the zodiac sign of 2020, the mouse, and by the Chinese tradition of paper folding. Origami is often credited to Japan, while its earliest examples belong to Chinese culture: the window pays tribute to a tradition little known in the West. Its focal point is a large red origami mouse made with a 3D printer, set against a seamless photographic studio backdrop in paper or textile. Bally bags, tied with a ribbon, form a necklace around the mouse.

The coordinated red envelope features the origami mouse drawn in gold and the fortune symbol on the flap. Inside, along with the greetings, the customer finds a personalised origami paper with the Bally logo and instructions to fold their own lucky mouse.

THIRD PROPOSAL: MOUSE FUR

The third proposal moves away from traditional colours and shapes towards a more playful, wintery window. The mouse is evoked by walls clad in grey ecological fur, which conveys the winter mood of the holidays. The structure is a wooden box lined with fur; the product displays are wooden blocks covered in the same way, set at different heights. The greeting is designed in white neon.