D. Porthault: His and Hers

 What better way to show the luxurious, hand silk screened linens of D. Porthault than within Geoff's hand painted display of a well appointed home! Like birds of a fine feather, the patterns in the fabrics and Geoff's light and loose painting flock together. So if you happen to fly by the D. Porthault flagship on Mad ave by chance, we hope you will alight to take a glance.

Throwback: Trustees Dinner @ The Whitney Museum of American Art

In 2005, Geoff was given to design and create the decor for the annual Whitney Museum of American Art's Board of Trustees. Having majored in art at Pratt, Geoff was thrilled to have the opportunity to create his own installation inside a major art museum, even if only for a night!  Using chartreuse Dupioni silk swagging back and forth over the table and "through" the windows and out into the courtyard, taking advantage of the very high ceiling and surrounding spaces.The table was dressed with a bright orange runner with a continuous water-filled tray containing floating candles and orchids blossoms in chartreuse and orange. Geoff worked his magic in creating sculptural scrolls at the end of each fabric swag. The result is strong yet whimsical.

Armani Glam Rock

It's only apt that fashion blowups inspired by glam rockers would be framed in black 'undergound' velvet. We built the giant frames and carefully upholstered them in black velvet and trimmed them in blackened chrome.  Encased within the frame and in front of the large light box, we applied custom made plexi shelving 'grids' to display Armani's latest accessories.

Throwback: Sunglass Hut: Christmas with Georgia May Jagger 2012

Tis the season of gift-giving, warmth and sparkly sparkles. Designer Georgia May Jagger's holiday window at Sunglass Hut was an explosion of gold and red gift-wrapped boxes stacked and hanging in front of backdrops of golden glitter. Of special note, the front of the window features a mechanized gift box that we developed that opens and closes to expose (and hide) a lit sunglass display. Please have a look at the video below of our contraption in action!

Midnight in the garden of Versailles

The holidays bring their frosty touch to the gardens of Versailles, I mean, D Porthault...  Carefully clipped boxwood topiaries dusted with snow and glowing lights below a hand painted midnight sky create a wintry atmosphere around the cherub sculpture centerpiece bedecked in the latest of D. Porthault's luxurious linens.  The side windows  also carried the frosty theme.

The interior dining table featuring linens embroidered with silver and gold thread along with D Porthault's signature monogram candles.

Off the Grid

Armani's inspiration for these windows was a rotating grid. Of course it wouldn't be Armani without a  chic twist. The shallow grid was made of a thin wooden substrate  mitered to fit perfectly at the corners and upholstered in fine black satin and attached to a glowing light-box background, the effect being an aura of luxury that also reflects the details and crisp tailoring seen in their collection. Shone below are some images showing the subtle differences from window to window as some without the mannequins.

Armani: Simple Chic

For Armani's lifestyle store on 5th ave and 56th st, the windows were freshly done to herald the arrival of Giorgio Armani himself, his first appearance in the US in years. The specially textured and colored acrylic backdrops were imported from Italy. Each grouping of panels were reverse-custom colored and/or mirrored. From across the street this created a beautiful array of vibrant colors representing the season's collection.

Giorgio Armani: Black Velvet

For the summer window,  the Madison Ave Giorgio Armani boutique hired us to produce a series of large black velvet frames with blackened chrome trim holding a double image of the same photograph. One image was printed on acrylic and the other on sheer fabric with the effect being a double exposure that 'holographically' changes focus as the viewer walks by.

Throwback: Less is More, profiling Skin care products

Elizabeth Arden's corporate headquarters in the 80's were in a building called Park Avenue Plaza. There were three large showcases in their lobby that Geoff designed and installed on a regular basis. Below are a couple examples of a more minimalist approach to showcasing various skin care products. 

 In the first shot, Geoff lined the background with blank newsprint plainly pinned to the wall. Across this plane of 'plainess', were pinned a repeating pattern of a portrait of Gary Cooper (cut out of Interview Magazines) and a hand written slogan in step with Father's Day.

In this variation of a minimalist stripey theme, Geoff created large painted canvases with tone-on-tone wide horizontal stripes and one bold bright pink stripe behind plaster cast lettering (a display standard of the day) to showcase the product.

Throwback: Imperial Fashion

Back when shoulder padded women's blazers were all the rage (i.e. the eighties), Beltrami's fashions were no exception. They had a giant and fancy store on 55th st. and 5th Ave and Geoff did the windows. For that year's 'travel collection' Geoff recreated a slice of China using 2 giant Foo dog statues and his signature hand painted background, in this case a lovely pagoda inspired fantasy in grisaille.

Many Armani

Always a study in the precise and geometrical, this Armani installation is no exception.  Using Ombré-d printed plexi-glass, each row of shingles were meticulously cut-out by computer and applied to the face of a large light-box fading from dark turquoise to a lighter shade at the bottom.  Because of the angle at which the shingles are placed, light glows from in between the rows. And because of the highly reflective surface of the plexi glass lights from many other sources reflect in the shingles and create a sparkling effect as you walk by.