Window Shopper: Behind the Scenes at Lord and Taylor

From the creatively curated windows at Barney's to the cleverly styled downtown boutiques, Manhattan has been home to the world's most renowned store windows for decades.  Our Lookbooks Window Shopper feature pays homage to some of the city's most creative visual displays.

In anticipation of today's unveiling event, Lord & Taylor's 5th avenue flagship gave us the great pleasure of a behind-the-scenes peek at their window displays. Vice President of Visual Merchandising Scott Devine was on hand to lead us through the department store's basment-cum-workshop and talk about Lord & Taylor's 75-year history of holiday windows; as it turns out, Lord & Taylor was the first retailer to create whimsical window displays strictly for pleasure's sake. Rather than using displays as a way to sell more product, Lord & Taylor designed their windows as a way to spread joy to eager, appreciative passers-by. "We look at it as our gift to New York City and visitors," said Devine.

That same spirit of giving is the hallmark of this year's theme: Share. Lord & Taylor gave all 47,000 of its Facebook fans the opportunity to share their favorite holiday memory--be it their favorite toy or a relative's visit. A team of 54 people worked on bringing 12 of those stories to life, tying them all together in New York City. Each display will feature the name of the Facebook fan whose story was chosen, and local winners will be present at today's Holiday Window event to see their favorite moments on display.

The 2010 Lord & Taylor Christmas windows will be unveiled Monday, November 15, 2010 (today!) at 5:30 PM as part of a day of excitement and celebration at the 5th Avenue Lord & Taylor. Stop by 424 5th Avenue at 38th Street any time today; guests on hand include Dylan Lauren of Dylan's Candy Bar, FEED Projects' Lauren Bush and Ellen Gustafson signing FEED bag purchases, and Tony-award winner Kristin Chenoweth singing with the Young People's Chorus of New York City. Tickets to the event are $5, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross in Greater New York. Even if you're not a local, you can do your part; log on to Lord & Taylor's Share page to view a live stream of the event. If they reach 5000 views, the store will donate an additional $1000.

Lookbooks thanks Scott Devine and the rest of the team at Lord & Taylor for sharing the magic--and some amazing window displays!