Saks Fifth Avenue Made a Yeti Look Gorgeous Last Night

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• Look, it's the Saks yeti!

There's a lot going on in Saks Fifth Avenue's holiday display: A 3D projection on the facade of the building. Six animated windows featuring children in cozy holiday scenes. Even more windows showcasing holiday fashion. And an entire mythology based on a yeti who lives on the roof of the building and makes it snow. Somehow, it all came together last night in an elaborate unveiling that also featured the American Ballet Theatre Dancers.

Harry Cunningham, SVP of visual at Saks, says that the creative team starts planning the windows literally 12 months in advance. Now that this year's display is up, they'll start watching people's reactions, figuring out what works and what doesn't. (Perennial winners: anything interactive, and anything with an element of surprise.)

Then, they'll draw up plans for next year and work with an off-site company to build them in a studio on the West Side. After edits and tweaks, they'll re-install the windows at the store, working out of a storage room three floors below ground. (Yes, Virginia, Saks has a secret underground tinsel room.) This time around, installation was delayed thanks to the hurricane—but you'd never know it from the slideshow above.
· All 2012 Holiday Windows [Racked NY]
· Saks Fifth Avenue [Official Site]