Where and how are New Year's tsuma displays made? A day with Tsuma creative director Natalya Goldenberg Daniil Berg

Every week the editors ask one of their Muscovite acquaintances to take a photo on the street and tell him what brands he is wearing, where he bought them and where he prefers to buy clothes. this week The Village photographed Daniil Berg at the Central Department Store.

Daniil Berg

40 years old, creative director of TSUM

In Moscow he prefers not to go far and buys most of his things at work. If he can’t find the item he likes here, he buys it abroad in trusted stores or orders it online.

On Daniel: Vajra T-shirt, Dolce & Gabbana shirt, The People trousers, L.G.B. jacket, Baldessarini boots, Rolex watch.

About things

About the stores

I am not a fan of dressing in trendy things; I can wear anything: from very inexpensive to very expensive things. However, my shoes are always expensive, even if they don’t look like it. A bag, watch, shoes and some details like cufflinks and ties should not be cheap. I still buy most of my things at TSUM, because I don’t have much time for shopping. Well, in Paris, at L'Eclaireur: I like the brands presented there and the way the buyers work.

There is no such thing that I need to buy something specific: if I go shopping, I go to please myself and never know what I will choose in the end - a T-shirt or a raincoat. But I always buy something when I travel, and these are always purchases based on my mood: I saw and won. Some things I may not even wear later, but there are very few of them in my wardrobe. I also never buy outright runway pieces, because I buy clothes for more than one season. Two main requirements - natural material and convenience.

As a rule, if stores don't have the item I want, I order it online. The last time I bought Rick Owens sneakers on Net-a-porter.com. When I wanted them, I couldn’t find them either in Moscow, or in Paris, or in Milan - I had to order them online.

I don’t buy anything in vintage stores, because the energy of things is not mine. From the mass market, I prefer Topshop jeans, I can buy a couple of simple T-shirts without prints at Gap, because few people make such simple T-shirts without a print. In other inexpensive stores, in my opinion, the quality is terrible, and the clothes don’t fit, at least on me.

Fashion director of “Kommersant-Lifestyle” NATELA POTSKHVERIA on how they come up with and make decorations for New Year’s window displays at TSUM.

“First the fairy sprinkles some fairy dust, and then the elves quickly put all the decorations in the display cases overnight.” My friend’s son looked at the Swan Princess behind the glass with disbelief. Last year we went together to look at the New Year's windows of the Central Department Store and guessed the plots of fairy tales. The child drove us into a frenzy with questions: who paints? why does he paint? what does it paint with? and who sculpts? where do they buy it? In the end, I had to lie about the fairy. To be honest, I, an adult, am also terribly interested in who and how creates such beauty. The TSUM windows are terribly interesting to look at. And you can do this endlessly, each time discovering more and more new details.

We'll go see it again this year. But now, if this restless one starts asking questions about the origin of the shop windows, I will have something to cover for. I now know every elf by sight and I can say for sure that the only dust that took part in history is white dust, which flies in different directions while the master saws the foam.

In addition, a film was recently released about the creation of New Year's window displays at TsUM, and the way a fragile girl carries the huge paws of a snow-white lion through a department store at night can now be seen by anyone interested in the origin of fairy tales placed behind the glass of TsUM.

The department store actually has two workshops. One is outside the city, the other is in the building of the Central Department Store itself. Literally behind the walls of the trading floors, a completely different life is in full swing - in a space hidden from prying eyes, decorators and the creative team of TSUM, led by Daniil Berg, are working.

The concept for the 2016 showcases was approved immediately after the installation of the 2015 showcases was completed. The theme was quickly decided on - fairy tales of the peoples of the world. Daniil Berg, head of the creative team, explains the choice: “Last year we made Russian folk tales, and making fairy tales of the peoples of the world was a logical continuation of the story. The idea is quite simple, but often the most simple ideas the hardest thing to implement.”

The creative department team consists of 14 people. Despite the fact that everyone is assigned a specific task, during the preparation of window displays (especially New Year’s ones) everyone helps everyone and there is no longer a clear division of labor. Ideas are always welcome, even if the employee does not know how to draw and creativity is not part of his duties - the main thing is that he is able to explain, and others will draw.

At the beginning of January, the team traditionally went to textile and decor exhibitions in Frankfurt and Paris to watch and get ideas. At the same time, the purchase of antiques and various interesting gizmos was underway, which it is not known when they might come in handy. Chinese vases of the 12th century, of course, are not transportable: decorators see no point in such expensive props - they can break during transportation. Although the warehouse in Moscow, where all purchases are taken, still resembles Ali Baba’s treasury.

After the January exhibitions, for about a month and a half, the team collects information in libraries and on the Internet - selects fairy tales. You need to decorate 36 storefronts. The plots should not be repeated, one showcase - one story, but the style is common.

Daniil sets the general vector: “The team always works, taking into account my style wishes. I don't want baroque - I want decadence. And I usually have a lot of such desires. Before we sit down to draw sketches, my team and I discuss all the details and minutiae of the plots. This is the most creative time in the office.” The sketch reflects the base and furniture, but small details are omitted. Each decorator will then decide for himself what and in what quantities he will use from the treasures in the warehouse.

The question of expenses remains behind the scenes: “No one needs to know how much and how we spent. People need to believe in fairy tales, we provide them with this.” But don’t think that the team is working under an unlimited budget. In this case, the search for compromise is the basis of the process.

“We try to give love, no matter how corny it may sound. We need to stop doing negativity, because it is very easy for them to surprise and shock. It’s very difficult to surprise with positivity, because the line between positivity and plebeianism is very thin,” says Berg.

Unlike other department stores, TSUM is perhaps one of the few where a sense of humor in window decoration is valued not only for New Year, but also in other months. Just remember the recent “cat” displays. The sculptures of Suzy Menkes, Anna Wintour, Carine Roitfeld, Naomi Campbell and Anna Dello Russo, created for the autumn-winter windows of the department store, were so liked by the public that at the first charity auction in the history of TSUM, held on December 15, a real fight took place for them. The auction, organized for the sake of the “TSUM for Children” initiative, raised 2 million rubles.

But let's get back to the New Year's windows. As a rule, the project is completely ready by the beginning of June. Then production begins. Almost everything is molded, glued, and sewn by hand. There are new technologies, a 3D printer, but they do not take root, and the bulk of the scenery is still made using traditional methods in a workshop in Altufyevo.

We find ourselves in a country workshop at the moment when the craftsmen are trying to load a huge foam tree into a truck. Looks like I'll have to cut it. “How to cut?” - I ask. What's wrong? It's a common thing. Then at TsUM the parts are simply glued together with construction foam. Mid-November - the warehouse is half empty. Something remains from past display cases; this will be restored and possibly used in future seasons.

Preparing New Year's showcases for TSUM. Photo: Grigory Sobchenko

When the sketch is approved, the designer in charge of the display window begins filling it out. Gives instructions to the workshop masters - what figures need to be made and sculpted. They find a lot in bins. The warehouse has special numbered boxes. Let's say K2 - “Kuznetsky, 2”, the second window from the side of Kuznetsky Most street. The designer arrives at the warehouse and slowly begins to drag away to his section everything that he considers necessary: armchairs, chairs, tables, cabinets, lamps, wigs, some figures made for last year’s showcases, if they are suddenly vital this year. You can spend several days in a warehouse and still not consider all the details. There are a lot of chests of drawers, cabinets, consoles, chairs, armchairs, chests, caskets, decorations, decorations. A separate room where glass vases, flasks, glasses, bottles, candy dishes, and sugar bowls are on the shelves. Another room is filled from floor to ceiling with dolls and fake food like rubber buns (they look extremely delicious). Bows, globes, Christmas decorations, feathers, beads, lanterns, candles, antique bicycles, gramophones, typewriters. Name any item, and it will definitely end up in the warehouse in some form.

The decorations are initially either pieces of plywood or a huge cube of foam plastic from which figures are cut out. After such cutting, only the shapes and outlines can be guessed, and then the prop makers finish it all: sanding, processing the corners, painting. Topics are distributed in advance, and everyone knows what they need to make. It is discussed in advance what, how and in what sequence. There are two permanent workers in the workshop, the rest are seasonal workers.

Behind a closed door (to prevent white dust from flying from cutting), the master and his assistant prepare a rabbit hole. The diameter of the hole is three to four meters. Right now it looks more like a huge styrofoam funnel, but after it's painted it will look more like it. By the way, large elements are painted not here, but in a workshop in Kostroma.

Preparing New Year's showcases for TSUM. Photo: Grigory Sobchenko

Here and there lie sawed-off bird legs, somewhere a dragon's head, plaster cats. A sad Pinocchio with a grown nose and donkey ears sits in the corner. A personal tailor comes to the finished dolls and sews suits for them according to their measurements. The most elegant one is Little Muk. His satin pants will probably get more attention than designer dress in this showcase.

Decorator Alexey is also responsible for making Lilliputian figurines for the “Gulliver’s Adventure” display case. When we talked, he was just sculpting blanks from plaster. Several half-finished little men lay nearby, drying. Lesha will then paint the dolls himself. The responsibilities of decorators include developing the technologies by which everything is done, manufacturing itself, and painting. Designers prepare sketches, bring them to decorators and monitor the process. “I am not entirely responsible for the fairy tale,” explains Alexey. - Let's say that Gulliver's legs were made by one person, the castle by another, and on me - Lilliputians. Each showcase is the work of several people. Contract workers cannot be trusted with such important things as covering something with fabric or painting it. The TSUM decorator is a universal master.” In two to three months he must produce several dozen figures and decorations. But the work doesn’t end there: “I also install all these display cases, depending on how complex the decorations are. If there are elements that, for example, are suspended, otherwise you wouldn’t trust anyone to install them, you need to know the design.” Alexey, by the way, is a sculptor by training. He worked for a year in St. Petersburg, at the DLT department store, and then moved to Moscow and has been working at TSUM for four years.

The creative director of TSUM is breaking records: she spent only three days shooting the department store’s new lookbook, coming up with 92 looks! We spent one day of filming with her, almost got lost in a sea of stunning outfits and were personally convinced that for strong women(and Natasha is exactly like that!) Nothing is impossible.

From the ship to the ball

“Today is definitely not my classic day. The night before the shoot, I flew home from Paris and didn’t get much sleep. I woke up at 9 am, went to the set and immediately got to work - at 10 I started putting together the first looks, and at that time the models already went to the makeup artist and hair stylist.”

Master's Case

“To prepare for the shooting, we selected the best items from all the interesting brands that TSUM has. The main task of the lookbook is to show how to mix clothes correctly, how you can wear those things that will be on sale in the summer. We shoot non-stop - of course, there is no time for lunch, and I snack on spinach buns on the go.”

This is only a small part of the shoes involved in the shooting: in total, Natasha selected more than 300 pairs for the shooting!

My love is on the third floor

“In my updated space NG x TSUM on the third floor of the Central Department Store there is three times more space, and it has become easier for us to receive strong brands that were not ready to be sold in the previous “youth zone.” But starting next season we will have Raf Simons’ Calvin Klein, we already have Loewe and other big brands that now happily want to sell with us.”

Figuratively speaking

“How do I come up with images? Of course, it’s not limited to my idea of fashion - first of all, I start from what brands offer, what inspiration this season’s shows have. We rarely change models' hairstyles and makeup - it takes too much time. By the way, I didn’t come to the shoot alone - my daughter Misha is already interested in fashion and will even participate in the TSUM Fashion Show.”