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Linda Fargo Remembers Her First Display Job at Macy’s
In a first-person essay published by Vogue, Linda Fargo recounts her entry into the fashion industry, beginning with an interview for a display position at Macy’s and her early career as a window director.
Growing up in Wisconsin, Fargo aspired to move to New York and work with found objects and assemblage. Securing her first interview at Macy’s display department required wearing a vintage 1940s skirt suit from 8th Street paired with vintage heels and a French twist. Carrying a heavy art school portfolio, she navigated the wrong subway line into Brooklyn twenty minutes before the appointment without funds for a taxi, yet still arrived on time.
The Evolution of Macy’s Windows in 1984
After starting as production manager for the window director, Fargo advanced to window director at Macy’s by 1984, just four years into her tenure. During this era, the department store featured high-end designer labels including Matsuda, Kansai Yamamoto, Claude Montana, and Armani.
Fargo notes that the Broadway windows were reserved strictly for designer collections. This assignment served as an intensive introduction to high fashion, paralleling the miniature worlds she built inside glass cases during art school. Over her career, she designed thousands of storefront displays, utilizing the half-inch sheet of glass to divide the public sidewalk from an elaborate fantasy environment.
Fargo Prepares Displays with Vintage Tutus and Falconers
The essay details the extensive preparation behind specific installations, such as a Perry Ellis window featuring mannequins styled as falconers with birds perched on their arms. For an American Ballet Theater display, Fargo retrieved stacked, vintage tutus from a Brooklyn warehouse filled with crates stamped for productions like Nutcracker and La Bayadère.
