I know it’s not crazy hipster street art that shows the urban hardships of today’s teens but, dang, if ever there was a reason to go to Union Square if you are a non-shopper like me, Shreve & Co. has the reason.

Ode to the Sea Fairy

Award-winning visual merchandising director for Shreve & Co. Jim Cardosa is a super nice guy who really enjoys his job putting these holiday window displays together. Last year, his theme was the 16th-century Italian comedy theater. That was the first time I even bothered to look into the jewlery store’s windows and it made me feel as if I was peeking into a magical and mysterious world. I felt like a kid again.
This year, the store’s theme is “A Fairy Merry Christmas.” There are 14 handcrafted individual fairies in various custom-built, hand-painted environments based on fairy poems.

Ode to the Queen Fairy
Cardosa doesn’t do all the work himself. Beginning in April, he assembled illustrator Bruce Henderson and sculptor/model-maker Kat Soto to start on this year’s presentation.

After working on several storyboards and concepts, the trio started crafting the environments in August.

Each window at Shreve & Co. has a theme, a poem and a fairy to illustrate both.

Ode to the Merchant Fairy

After the holidays, the models will be for sale on Kat Soto’s Web site. All proceeds will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Shreve & Co. is at Post & Grant San Francisco in San Francisco.