Lanna Gomez, Clerys, Dublin

When Lanna Gomez moved to Ireland from Brazil eight years ago, the first place she visited was Clerys to see the store’s iconic clock.

“It’s famous at home,” she explains. “Before I came to Ireland, I saw a picture of it in a travel book and it was one of the first things I wanted to see. It’s amazing to think I work here now, it’s such an iconic place.”

Lanna is Clerys’ visual merchandise manager, a role she has held for just under a year. She previously worked in Blarney Woollen Mills and Meadows & Byrne, and has 12 years’ experience dressing windows.

This is her first year dressing Clerys’ Christmas display and it took two months of planning for the theme to come together.

“I started by thinking about the products and how to make them stand out,” she says.

“My inspiration was the film ‘Frozen’ – I wanted the windows to look really crisp and icy.”

“I had two months to get what I needed to put the window together and everything had to be made from scratch. You have to make people outside understand the message and it has to be reflected inside the store too. You also have to make it different and surprise people.”

Lanna’s efforts have been well-received by the public so far.

“I’ve been getting lots of compliments, which is a good sign. I’m happy, especially since it’s my first year working for Clerys,” she says. “It’s unbelievable to see the amount of customers who remember the windows from years ago. I was really surprised.”

Lanna has always been a creative person and displayed a flair for design at a young age.

“I think that creativity is something you are born with,” she explains. “I’ve been interested in art since I was eight. My friends would ask me to do the decorations for their birthday parties.”

Val Holmes, Brown Thomas, Limerick

Val Holmes began working for the iconic Limerick store at Christmas time in 1974. With a career spanning over 40 years, the display manager has seen many festive scenes portrayed in the O’Connell street windows. This year, Brown Thomas Christmas windows have drawn inspiration from the 1920s Art Deco era. Each window features a traditional, winter outdoor scene, such as ice skating, tobogganing and skiing, with the mannequin’s attire taking subtle inspiration from art deco elements, including glamorous gowns, spectacular suits and wonderful winter outerwear.

“Fashion changes and we’ve done a lot of different things over the years,” says Val. “In the early ’80s we used to do animated windows, with everything from Smurfs to Santa, but that trend has moved on.”

Brown Thomas’ creative director, John Redmond, is responsible for the creative theme of the windows every year, which the team executes in-store. The process takes two weeks, with current trends in-store reflected in the enchanting display. Val enlists the help from fellow colleagues Anne O’Dwyer, Marie Dervan and Hilary Moloney.

“We aim to be the top in Ireland and I think we’ve surpassed ourselves this year,” says Val. “We’ve been getting a great response and it looks fantastic.”

Although Val had no experience in art before joining Brown Thomas (then Todd’s), his creative talent has developed and grown over the years. The store is an important focal point on O’Connell street in the lead up to Christmas and Val is delighted with its contribution to the festive feeling in the city.

“It’s great to add to the atmosphere and see people visit the shop and admire the window display,” he says. With Limerick’s year as Ireland’s City of Culture coming to an end, Val believes the city has never looked better.

“Limerick is brilliant this Christmas with all the extra lights and decorations,” he says. “It’s great to see more people coming into the city instead of going to shopping centres on the outskirts.”

Jill Lenehan, Avoca

Christmas at Avoca is keeping with the company’s unique and quirky style, with this year’s display described as “Snow White meet Snow Queen” by Jill Lenehan, who is their creative and visual merchandiser. Jill, who hails from Kildare, has been with Avoca for nine years. She started as a floor merchandiser at Avoca’s branch in Rathcoole and worked her way up to become the person responsible for the company’s image in-store.

“I am the go-to person for all Avoca displays,” she says. “Work for our Christmas displays starts in January when we start buying. We start talking about Christmas properly in September and roll out displays in November.

“Our displays are really important. It gives the store the wow factor and grabs the customer. They find it really special.”

Jill works with merchandisers in each store to achieve a certain look.

“Each store has its own style. Most of the work is done by the merchandisers working in the stores – I just give displays a fluff and puff. It’s a team effort and all hands are on deck during Christmas,” she says.

Jill studied marketing in college, but was always interested in art. She worked in Newbridge before joining Avoca.

“I got into merchandising by accident, but I love it,” she says. “I was working in the Newbridge shop and applied for a merchandising job and there was no going back. It’s very busy and hands on. Something always goes wrong when you’re putting a window display together and you’re dragging tables and all sorts of things through the shop, but I still love my job.”