Address:
Universal Display Fittings Co Ltd
51 Mortimer Street
London W1W 8JH UK
Tel. +44 207 580 9471
Fax. +44 207 436 9732
e-mail: info@universaldisplay.co.uk
Website:www.universaldisplay.co.uk

Universal Display & Design Inc
138 West 25th Street
New York NY 10001 USA
Tel. +1 212 242 0374
Fax. +1 212 989 0706
e-mail: info@universaldisplayusa.com
Website:www.universaldisplayusa.com

Lounge Mannequins by Universal Display

All photos are courtesy of Universal Display.

Universal Display has been manufacturing tailor busts and forms since 1951. In 1994-1995, they acquired "Gemini Mannequins," which enhanced their design capabalities for fiberglass mannequins, forms, accessories and props.

Their manufacturing facility in London handles the designing and mold making, while their manufacturing facility in China handle the bulk production. All of these capabilities combined makes Universal Display very responsive to their customers who either want costume props and those who want to purchase in bulk.

"We cater to almost all types of customers," quoted Jonathan Berlin, Creative Director of Universal Display. "Luxury retailers such as Gucci and Prada would want a specific prop for their stores worldwide. Because of time constraints, we would design and manufacture these pieces in our London facility, hence we could deliver them on time and our sculptors and artists could respond to the customers's needs and specifications immediately. Then, there are customers who want to buy standard items from our catalogs in bulk such as Christmas ornaments and props. Those are handled in our China facility, and that also makes the prices more competitive."

"Visual merchandising has evolved through the years. Today, retailers want versatility in mannequins and props so that they can reuse them in their display without looking stale. To respond to that, we came out with the Lounge Mannequins line which has removable heads. One mannequin can give you different guises. We also have 'removable shoes' in our mannequins. The foot is abstract wherein there are four different types of clips, giving the mannequin different heights."

"At Universal Display, we want to give our customers different options which in turn give them more value for their money. Although retail is alive and well, we also have to consider our customer's budget."

Mannequin Trends
"Mannequins today are more commercial in their looks. There is room for both abstract and realistic mannequins and we supply both kinds. We have the Lounge Lines for the realistic mannequins and Future and Absolut Abstract for abstract mannequins. We also have teens, kids and babes which are either realistic or abstract. Because we are capabable of doing custom work, we have a full line of mannequins and forms to offer."