• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, November 22, 2013

Whether you’re a permanent resident or a tourist passing through, one of the great joys of the New York City holiday season is strolling along Fifth Avenue, gawking at store displays filled with overpriced luxury goods, wondering when the revolution is going to come. Last year the experience was rendered even more whimsical thanks to Saks Fifth Avenue’s “Snowflake Spectacular,” a giant 3D animation projected on the side of the flagship store. 

Saks is doing it again this year with a second “Snowflake Spectacular,” complemented by digital place-based installations in the store’s famous holiday window displays. Six street-level windows will feature animated displays telling the story of a yeti who (legend has it) lives on the store’s roof and makes snow during the holiday season. Each display traces a step in the yeti’s life, from his humble origins as an under-appreciated snow maker in Siberia to his current position as New York’s chief snow artist.

MasterCard is also getting into the yeti/holiday spirit with an interactive window display that allows passers-by to create their own yeti name and snowflake using a mobile device.

Of course Saks isn’t the only luxury retailer with a reputation for creative holiday window displays: across the pond, Britain’s tony Harrod’s department store is no slouch, either. This year the iconic high-end emporium is incorporating digital out of home into a series of diorama-style window displays which depict a vintage train full of unusual characters surrounded by luxury goodies; the digital screens are the carriage “windows,” showing an icy dreamscape flitting by in the background.