An exploration of fashion visual merchandising and its role as a brand positioning device

In today's globally competitive and dynamic fashion environment every clothing and lifestyle brand, from the largest luxury conglomerate to the independent market stall trader, utilises one if not more elements and principles of visual merchandising (VM). This exploratory study aimed to investigate this under-researched marketing tool within the context of a window display's role in communicating the brand's identity and position in the marketplace. Using a qualitative two-phase approach of non-participant store observations and in-depth interviews with visual merchandisers, the research focused on two main elements of window display: color and lighting. Undertaking a comparison between the VM window display techniques of high street and luxury fashion brands, the primary research demonstrated that a clear difference in approach was evident and that this was dependent on the position in the marketplace. The paper concludes by identifying these differences.