It's TV Time at Rag & Bone and Agent Provocateur on Mercer

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Right now, both the Rag & Bone and Agent Provocateur boutiques on Mercer Street have old television sets featured prominently in their window displays. Is this just blind coincidence, or as a tipster asked us earlier, it is "a pathetic attempt at keeping up with Joneses"? We poked around a little to get to the bottom of the duplicate window mystery.

The Rag & Bone window consists of 10 television screens of varying sizes playing a looped video of the fall/winter collection. The store on Houston also features an old television screen streaming a runway show, although there are various boots, jeans and sweaters strewn about so it's not as strikingly bare as the Soho window.

Meanwhile, at Agent Provocateur on Mercer, the television screens have taken on a much greater role than simply blasting upcoming styles. There is a lingerie-clad mannequin facing the television and holding a remote control next to a video camera. The display features retro television screens with holograms of girls undressing, and one screen has an erotic arthouse film streaming.

Turns out the film stars model Kristy Hume and is one of a series of collaborations that Agent Provocateur has done with artists and models such as Kate Moss (it can also be viewed online). During Fashion's Night Out, the mannequin will be replaced by a model who will aim the camera at the audience. So while both stores use the televisions as set pieces to explore the collision of fashion and media, Agent Provocateur's comment on voyeurism and sexuality is actually part of a larger viral campaign. Mystery solved!—Rachel Traub
· Videos [Agent Provocateur]