The artist behind the Iko Iko window displays

If you've ever frequented Cuba Street in the heart of Wellington you're probably familiar with the work of Emma Smith.

She creates the ever-changing Iko Iko shop window displays.

She makes a new one entirely by herself each few weeks, transforming all sorts of cheap and recycled stuff into amazing art displays.

She started making her distinctive window displays 10 years’ ago, she tells Jesse Mulligan.

“My dad started off in window displays. So, I've always been familiar with making props and making fun things out of recycled products.”

Much of what she makes uses the abundance of cardboard generated by retail, she says.

“We do a very fun Christmas window each year, we do a different theme each year. Two years’ ago, we did a gingerbread village and it was all made out of cardboard and speckle and because of obviously we get sent so much stock that we just have all this cardboard laying around.

“And what's the best thing to use for gingerbread houses? Cardboard.”

The displays make the shopping experience “magical,” she says.

“Coming into the city and having something that is an experience.”