Director Andrew Walton of production boutique Identity was tapped by fashion retailer Nordstrom to spice up the construction facade of its newest store, the Nordstrom Rack in New York City's Union Square. In order to whet the appetite of customers waiting for the store's grand opening on May 11th, video screens inserted into the facade of the construction site give passers-by a little sneak preview into the store. The video wall will be live until May 11th with plans to be erected at future Nordstrom Rack openings coast-to-coast.
Pedestrians walking through Union Square will be able to peer into peephole boxes cut into the construction wall, where they'll see a looped video running on mounted monitors that takes them inside a virtual dressing room.
There, three attractive models, one man and two women, stand among rolling racks of clothing and try on a variety of outfits. The 30-90 second videos are fun, provocative and playful rather than voyeuristic and perfectly capture the fun of shopping for new clothes.
Identity played an integral role in helping Nordstrom develop this creative concept from the very start. While Nordstrom knew it wanted to use the construction facade -- a commonplace sight to New Yorkers -- as its communications platform, it wasn't sure what kind of content these screens would show. Nordstrom brought in Walton and Identity Executive Producer Joe Masi very early in the process to brainstorm and pitch ideas.
"Once we decided on the peephole idea, our challenge was to find a balance in making the films entertaining yet alluring and tasteful," said Walton.
"We wanted to get people off the street interacting and engaging with the brand, and to get them talking and excited about the opening of the new store. We in the ad industry have long been decrying the demise of the 30-second spot, so my hat's off to Nordstrom for its willingness to experiment with new and interesting ways to reach its customers."
Shooting with a Canon 5D camera, Walton directed a one-day live-action shoot at the Fast Ashleys studio in Brooklyn. Models were cast for their look, but also for their ability to connect and have fun with the camera, take direction from the shoot's choreographer and truly get lost in the moment of trying on new clothes.