Windows of The District Docklands

Windows of The District Docklands

By Ivana Molnar, marketing and communications manager at The District

Bodhi Woods, a young visual merchandising student at RMIT University, will soon see her window design in 29 Oxford stores across the country.

Over the last 24 months, The District has provided the local community with a platform to showcase up-and-coming talent, by implementing various initiatives across art, craft and design. These include the current MAGNET Galleries, a gallery space supporting emerging photographers and Independent Schools Victoria. In addition, each year, local primary schools are given the opportunity to be a part of the Christmas celebrations by decorating trees, on display in the precinct across the festive season.

This year, for the second year in a row, The District is giving RMIT diploma of visual merchandising students an opportunity to showcase their skills while working on a real-life commercial outcome. Working with selected brands in The District, students were given a brief and brand guidelines to follow in the development of their visual merchandising window concepts. Designs were then presented back to the brand managers for feedback and approval.

RMIT teacher [diploma of visual merchandising/course coordinator] Tim McCarthy said: “The District Docklands project has become an integral part of the process of preparing students to be industry ready.” And, this year, one of the student designs will be rolled out across 29 stores, nation-wide! The team at Oxford were so impressed with the design presented, they will roll it out across all of their stores in the country over spring.

Bodhi Woods, the incredibly talented student studying a diploma of visual merchandising at RMIT created the Oxford concept and is very excited at the acceptance of her design. She is looking forward to seeing her work in the Oxford windows. Bodhi said: “It means a lot to me to work with a leading shopping precinct like The District Docklands and a leading national fashion retailer like Oxford.” Bodhi hopes the opportunity will help raise her visual merchandising profile and assist in opening doors to further work in the field.

Bodhi wanted to propose a design that would be more edgy and unique, away from the clichés and flowers you would normally see in spring carnival displays. She went with the autonomy of a horse in pastel colours to make it eye catching for shoppers. “I find that in this industry it can be difficult to find your way, so having Oxford and The District Docklands support up-and-coming visual merchandisers is such a great idea and I’m really proud to be a part of this project,” Bodhi said.

This year, three students were chosen to execute their designs for Kathmandu, Miniso and Oxford. Designs will be on display at The District from October 15 to 27. The District is committed to supporting and nurturing the next generation of RMIT visual merchandising graduates, and we look forward to seeing the displays in the precinct. We invite everyone to come and see the student designs while on display.

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