Tel: +86-0769-33218711
E-Mail: info@ysydisplay.com
Add: A1#807, Tianan cyber building, Huangjin Road, Nancheng, Dongguan, China 523000.
Seasonal · Christmas
The Christmas window is the most expensive one you will build all year and the one most likely to be ordered late. Three themes that work with stock figures, a prop ratio that keeps them from looking cluttered, and a single order deadline that matters.
Budget split50 / 30 / 20Figures / props / lighting
Figures per window3–5Three is the floor, five the ceiling
Display opensEarly NovemberSeven weeks of selling before Christmas
Order byLate AugustSea freight, for a November install
Start here
Christmas windows fail for a planning reason, not a creative one. The theme gets decided in October, the figures get ordered in October, and the window opens three weeks late with stock figures in whatever finish was available. The fix is to separate the two decisions: fix the theme twelve weeks out, fix the order eight weeks out.
Fix the theme in week −12 and the order in week −8. Deciding the theme early costs nothing and leaves room for one round of changes — which every Christmas window needs, because the first idea is usually the one the neighbouring shop also had.
Budget splits roughly 50% figures, 30% props, 20% lighting. Shops routinely invert this, spending on props and re-using tired figures, which is why so many Christmas windows look busy and cheap at the same time. The figures are what carry the clothing; the props only support them.
Three directions
All three can be built without tooling. The difference between them is the finish you order and how many props you allow into the window.
All-white figures, silver and glass props, cool light. The most forgiving theme for a shop with a mixed product range, because white figures do not argue with the clothing. It is also the theme that photographs best for social media.
Figures: 3 matte or satin white adults, one headless torso
Props: frosted branches, glass baubles, one white plinth at 300 mm
Light: 4000K, even wash, one accent per figure
Budget: figures USD 330–390, props USD 200–300
Warm skin-tone or vintage-toned figures, oak, tartan, brass, 3000K light. Reads as a shop with history, and suits tailoring, knitwear and outerwear. It is the theme that ages best — a Heritage window can stay up into January without looking stale.
Figures: 3 realistic adults, warm tone, one seated
Props: oak crates, tartan cloth, brass lanterns, dried foliage
Light: 3000K, warm pools, visible falloff
Budget: figures USD 330–390, props USD 250–350
Two figures, one metallic accent, a dark backdrop, precise lighting. The cheapest of the three on props and the most expensive on discipline: any prop that is not metallic or black breaks it. Best for contemporary fashion and for narrow windows.
Figures: 2 figures, matte white or matte black
Props: one brushed brass object, one dark velvet drape
Light: 3500K, one tight 15° spot per figure
Budget: figures USD 220–260, props under USD 150
| Theme | Figures | Finish | Light | Figure cost | Stays up until |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Christmas | 3–4 | Matte or satin white | 4000K even | USD 330–390 | Early January |
| Heritage | 3 | Warm realistic | 3000K pools | USD 330–390 | Late January |
| Modern Minimal | 2 | Matte white or black | 3500K tight | USD 220–260 | Early January |
Composition
The ratio that keeps a Christmas window from looking like a shop window in a film set is roughly one prop group per three figures. In practice: three figures, one cluster of props. Five figures, two clusters. The props are arranged as one object, not scattered between the figures.
Height variation does the rest. Three heights — floor, plinth at 300 mm, plinth at 600 mm — give the eye somewhere to travel, and they let a window show shoes, a bag and a garment within one composition. Two heights look accidental; four look like shelving.
The January test. Before you commit to a theme, ask what it looks like on 3 January. Christmas trees and reindeer fail it; white, timber and metallics pass. A window that survives into January earns its cost twice.
Timing
There are two Christmas deadlines, and they serve different purposes. The Black Friday deadline matters if November trade is a meaningful part of your year; the Christmas deadline matters if December is. Most shops need the first one, because a window installed in early November sells for seven weeks instead of four.
| Milestone | Install date | Order by (sea) | Order by (air) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Friday window | 1 November | 22 August | 20 September | Seven weeks of selling; best value per figure |
| Christmas peak | 22 November | 12 September | 18 October | Four weeks of selling; leaves no room for re-work |
| Late re-stock | Any December date | — | Stock only | Choose from finishes already in production |
Repeat the pose, change the finish. If you built a Christmas window last year on a pose you still like, the mould already exists, so a repeat order carries no tooling cost and a shorter lead time. Changing the finish — white to gold, matte to satin — is enough to make the window look new.
Questions
White, timber and metallic themes can run to early January with the Christmas-specific props removed. Anything with trees, reindeer or Santa has to come down on 27 December or it reads as neglect. If you want a window that lasts into February, choose Heritage or Modern Minimal.
We supply figures, bases and plinths. Seasonal props — trees, baubles, foliage — are better sourced locally, because they are bulky, inexpensive and slow to ship. Plinths are the exception: they are worth shipping with the figures because height is what makes the composition work.
Yes, on the base as a printed insert or on the plinth as a small decal. On the figure itself it competes with the clothing and dates the display to one campaign, so it is rarely worth it.
By sea, late August for a 1 November install and mid-September for a 22 November install. By air, add four weeks. After the first week of October, the only realistic option is a stock finish in a pose we are already producing.
Send the window width and the theme you have in mind. We will confirm the figure count and the last order date that still lands before your install.
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Tel: +86-0769-33218711
E-Mail: info@ysydisplay.com
Add: A1#807, Tianan cyber building, Huangjin Road, Nancheng, Dongguan, China 523000.
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