It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Make that a very beautiful Christmas. And you know it’s everybody’s favorite season once again when Rustan’s Department Store dresses up its window displays. This year, the inspiration came from Nena Tantoco, special assistant to the president, and executed by the department store’s visual merchandising team headed by Ross Morante.

Composed of 20 to 30 staffers, the division worked around the tagline “Awaken the Child,” which meant that magic and fantasy fill every window. It took them three months to go from the drawing board to the actual window displays.

Rustan’s is also making children’s wishes come true this season with its Christmas Wish List for Children — a gift registry for children that works just like a bridal registry. That’s the modern version, of course. Children might still want to think it’s fairies and elves that get their list from under their pillow, deliver it to Santa and then right under their tree on Christmas Eve.

“Our main objective is to awaken the child in everyone, regardless of age,” says Rustan’s media relations head Anna Go. “Last year we focused on family and used a lot of graphics; this year we used a lot of animation. Previous years have also seen modern interpretations of fairy tales.”

If you go by the compliments the department store has gotten from shoppers and passersby, it’s true that there’s a child in everyone — especially when they’re reminded it’s the season of magic.