By Jason Emerson
After a 30-day window display competition at The Key on Albany Street, the winning team from the Cazenovia College fashion design program was announced on Halloween.
The winner was window design no. 4, “Fall Vintage,” created by Megan Kentile, Xitlally Rosario, Ariana Terry and Cissell Jaquez Martinez.
“Your artistry has drawn attention to The Key and we sold many items that were in your displays,” said Lorie Riedl, executive director of The Key, the local consignment shop that is part of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. The store held a small ceremony to announce the winner on Oct. 31. “It’s fun to see what the public has to say because your work is here.”
The Key and the Cazenovia College Fashion Department have worked together since 2005 on various projects and programs. This year’s window-display competition for college fashion styling class students featured four windows with varying concepts ranging from vintage to seasonal looks. The course prepares students on how to attract customers into the store by using visual merchandising techniques such as color theory, textures and composition to captivate the customer’s attention, create awareness and simultaneously increase brand loyalty.
“This was very successful, and it turned out really well,” said class professor Elise Thayer, a visiting instructor with the college fashion program. “The students did a really good job, especially with the constraints they had of using only merchandise from The Key and limited resources for extra decorations. The windows were executed really well.”
There were 56 votes in the competition, which ran from Oct. 1 to 30. The votes were from customers, students and community members.
