vienna

unifies the shops around the world. Our visits to stores are gradually replacing
visits to churches and other sightseeing attractions. Orientation in the commodity
cosmos is consuming a lot of our attention. 359 And as we know, not all churches
are the same. Some places are more holy than others, which is why pilgrims
visit them. The same holds true of the holy places of consumption. Rituals structure
religious life, and they structure consumption as well. The seasonal sales count
among the calendar rites of consumer culture. They are not only performed by
mass-market brands but also by couture brands. We find the two brands that
announce their sale on the same day in the newspaper interesting to compare
because the mass-market brand imitates the merchandising style of the couture
brand, especially in the design of its show windows. The mass-market brand
creates a distinctive show window by using a few expensive mannequins, good
lighting and fashionable clothing, which is at times very close to the original. 360 It
will be interesting to see how these stores stage their seasonal sale. We resumed
our search after the weekend, and started with this couture shop:
The show window is painted black: the sidewalls, the back wall, the floor and
the ceiling. One mannequin is standing alone in the centre of the big black
window. This headless mannequin is dressed in a black cocktail dress. Behind
her, white petals fall from above. Black evening sandals stand among the white
petals, which cover the entire floor. It seems as if it were snowing inside the show
window. At first glance, nothing seems to announce the seasonal sale. Are we
too early? And then we discern a small metal label among the petals on the
floor saying: “merchandise on sale inside the shop”. That was all. No pricelist for
the clothes on the mannequin. Once inside the shop, we look around in the
show department. The shoes of the autumn/winter collection are presented
nicely on the expensive shop fittings. Only a metal label on each of the shelves
says: “sale”!
It is not far from the couture shop to the other retailer. Just a few minutes
later we find ourselves before the seasonal sale façade of the mass-market brand:
The show window has a black backdrop. All the mannequins have been put away.
Two scaffolding pillars hold a seasonal sale poster. The poster has a black background
with white dots. When driving fast by it in the night, the dots on the
poster look like snowflakes. In the centre of this dynamic creation is written:
“up to 50%”. The number fifty is large, while the other information is in rather
small print. When we enter the store, we find ourselves in front of tables with
topsy-turvy piles of boots.
359 The biggest producer of food in the world owns 8 500 local brands. See Schwarz (2000:17).
360 As the mass-market brands are very fast in copying collections, the fashion pieces are often also similar in style.
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