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The Eastender: Front & Company offers window into creativity

In one of the miniature apartments that make up one small part of the window displays at Front & Company on Main Street, a male figure is largely hidden from view.

In one of the miniature apartments that make up one small part of the window displays at Front & Company on Main Street, a male figure is largely hidden from view.

From the sidewalk it’s a feminine figure wrapped in a lilac bathrobe that dominates the balcony of the tiny faux apartment, but step into the store for a closer look and the man can be clearly seen sprawled across the bed covered in a rumpled black and white bedspread.

The inspiration for the tableau, explains Front & Company’s creative director Sonia Capriceru, is the opening scene of the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window.

“There’s a whole story in that room,” says Capriceru, “in all the rooms.”

It’s that attention to detail that has passersby stopping to check out the windows of Front & Co., which sells new and vintage clothing, accessories, stationary, household items, shoes, jewelry and kitsch of every description.

Dressed in a striped, nautical-inspired T-shirt and rolled-up jeans, her dark hair styled into a pixie cut, Capriceru’s look is reminiscent of screen legend Audrey Hepburn’s in the 1953 movie Roman Holiday.

The detail in the displays is astounding — from the tiny Tarot cards and yoga class taking place in the Vancouver Island-inspired space to the food truck in the beach scene selling Sea Front Fish Tacos, inspired by the popular TacoFino.

In one window Capriceru created a tiny yellow house built to replicate a typical Main Street rental complete with a heavy metal/punk band in the lower left-hand corner practising against a backdrop of music posters.

Before creating the posters Capriceru made a list of bands she thought likely influenced her miniature group and sent it off to a more knowledgeable friend.

“He added some and took some away and that’s how we end up with these posters,” she says of the homage to Black Flag, the Misfits and Wasted Youth.

At the side of the house a tiny painter can be found holding a long roller next to a bucket of yellow paint. Also found in the yellow house is replica apartment of an East Side vegan complete with a tiny figure sporting a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of broccoli. When asked why a vegan might have a box of Mr. T cereal on the counter, Capriceru is quick to reply.

“Maybe he has roommates,” she says with a smile. “Actually, when I saw it I knew I had to use it.”

Capriceru is anxious to share credit for the success of the window displays. She says when it comes to large projects, such as attaching hundreds of individual tiny “bricks” — a.k.a. bathroom tiles — to the outside of the miniature apartment building, it was very much a joint project. While each window design is a labour of love taking up to six months to create, the displays themselves go up in one night with all staff involved.

“We pay them in pizza and love,” says Capriceru, who adds her assistant Katrina Caparas was the inspiration for the tiny artist studio in the yellow house, complete with nude model. Caparas painted each of the tiny canvases found in the studio.

Capriceru adds studio assistant Karen La made stencils from the store’s wallpaper and used them in the mini Front & Co., as well as the miniature garbage and recycling bins only visible from inside the store. Close inspection shows the tiny recycling bin is stuffed with miniature beer bottles from Granville Island Brewing. In the recycling scene a janitor can be seen carrying out a clear bag of green waste.

“Our custodian’s name is Leo so we made a tiny name tag for this model that says Leo,” says Capriceru.

Grace Altobar, who runs the store’s pricing department, was seamstress for this latest project and made all of the tiny outfits, including the bikinis for the beach scene and racks of vintage clothes in the replica store. Besides tiny racks of vintage clothing, an identical (miniature) copy of Front’s trademark chandelier was reproduced for the replica store.

Finally, Capriceru says, the support of owners Flora Cheung and Diana Li allows the magic to happen. Prior to Capriceru taking over the windows, Li was the creative force behind the displays for almost 20 years.

Li says between two children, the store and her art she was happy to hand over artistic licence to Capriceru.

“I’m very open minded and even wild, but the execution must be up to a certain quality and standard,” says Li. “I know Sonia can do that.”

Visit “Summer Nights at Front & Company” on Facebook for more information.

sthomas@vancourier.com
twitter.com/sthomas10