Written and directed by Matthew Miew, Produced by Mallory Andrew
Dawn Mellow - Former creative fashion director at Bergdorfs. Icon. Very thorough and a great eye for talent.
Mellow found Marc Jacobs doing windows. He was running the store selling his own clothes and was invited to show to buyers- at the time he had no collection, so had to make a full line to showcase. Mellows helped make the Jacobs brand now upwards of $30million.
Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty collection and exhibition was about an emotional connection between clothes and the audience. Bergdorfs was key in many costume exhibitions- “diversity is shown through fashion:.
They “flourish and support talent”
“If your clothes are not at that place, they have no future”- Isaak Misakci
Linda Fargo- Current creative fashion director at Bergdorfs. Front row at every catwalk and major show. Leader in directing consumer trends and influencing behaviour by the collections she puts in the Manhattan eye.
“One designer at a time. They have to pass various litmus tests of what it means to be a Bergdorfs worthy brand”.
“Being part of Bergdorfs is being part of the american dream”. You have to see the ultimate fantasy ideal to aspire towards it, and that aspiration leads to a drive and success which positively contributes to society.
—- Thakoon got an ‘inauguration Window to celebrate him (and the store) dressing the first lady. Addresses public and political culture through their windows, first black first lady. Suffragets?
Bergdorfs is a “look at what fashion was”, much like a museum or an exhibition, rather than a marketing tool. These power-brands are so successful, they do not need to attract new consumers.
Malano Blankick- “There was always a magic with Bergdorfs, especially with the windows, and they’ve still got it!”.
The Windows
Magic
School trips to sketch the windows
Entertains and excites everyone on some level.
1.5 million people view them per week.
‘The Key to make the customer enter the store is the window!’
Bergdorfs Windows-
Mosaic Window
Wood Window
Looks like a woman will be chiselling away around wooden animals. “Sculptress is a way to tie all the pieces together”.
When collecting the pieces, if they were not already antique looking, the props team would make them more antique looking.
The aim is to tell a story
Brass Managarie
Collected over 1 and a half years, brass and copper ornaments of birds and other trinkets, mainly by mexican artist Sergio Bustermante. “We’re going to make it like a girl with a brass band almost”
Make the window look like a jungle, need a big anchoring prop to add focus and a narrative to engage the viewers curiosity further.
Paper Window
All paper and paper ache
“These windows have been a form of instillation art, fine instillation art and called ‘window dressing’”- Douglas Little, freelance artist
It gives people an opportunity to dream outside of their comfort zone”- aspirational theory, upwards comparison through design.
Polar Garden Party
7 Weeks prior to launch, all in full swing of set up in artist studio of Joanna Burke.
Plush animals made out of upholstery and other plush materials in a very couture style. Deluxe fringing, crystals, gems all contribute.
Demetrios Argyropolos- Production manager. ‘In the wrong hands [the materials] will never look right, so we only use the best people”. Bergdorfs subcontract designers on commission.
David *FIND FULL NAME AND TITLE OF* “You don’t just have a mannequin a vase af silk flowers and a corinthian collar and call it a display.. it needs to have action! A movie frozen in time.
6 or 7 people working at different places all over NYC.
All adopt a ‘high brow’ but silly approach so everyone will like it “children..zoologists..”.
Lynn Yaeger- Fashion Writer and has been writing about window displays for years.
“you remember the seasons and what they all did”.
The windows and merchandise are “the height of style. I class them as so New York”.
“They have the audience breath of ‘rich uptown New Yorkers and tourists. That multicultural engagement is something you’d get on Broadway.”
Its a “theatrical experience they do so beautifully”.
Multipul audiences can be satisfied, by ultra-sophisticates (bourjoise) and children on the street dreaming of escapism, “everybody is entertained”.
Bergdorf was not essential in creating the costume design for Sex and the City, Woody Allens ‘Manhatten’ and many others.
The detail keeps people coming back and exploring windows for hours.
All composed and constructed for purpose.
Bergdorfs consider the Window Scheme before the dress for important (or statement) windows.
The process is David will do a presentation for Linda Fargo about what the windows will look like, it will include all the fall collections or “sometimes we will commission designers to do a special dress”.
The building was on the old Vanderbilt Mansion on W37 5th Ave but was redesigned by Mr Sher at the Plaza Hotel. Marble, clean lines all echoing a tailors precision.
The Goodman family use to live above the store to enjoy the Vanderbilt fire over the richest street in the world.
Ira Neimark- Former CEO at Bergdorf Goodman.
Bergdorfs invest and developed their designers by small couriers, and as such drop Milliner Halston as JC Penny would benefit from and tarnish the luxury reputation. Halton wanted everyone to have a piece of his art, many people did including Jackie Kennedy, so filtered the designs down chain.
When selecting collections to essentially influence trends, they ask themselves “Where is she going in that? And if you cannot answer it, its on the out list”.
Linda Fargo discovered Toms
“When we decide to partner eachother, its like a marriage, we don’t take it lightly”.
To bring a trend/collection in, it has to be extraordinary but widely merchandised.
Oscar De La Renta says a Bergdorf window is a “woman in control of her destiny” and in todays world, they have to “market to a whole different woman”, rather than just the kept woman of the past. David Hoey’s influence is looking to higher possibilities, he wants the “windows to be percived as hallucinations” and have a “magic quality”.
David: “When asked ‘where do you get your ideas? it comes from everywhere, “high culture, low culture, the arts, sciences, comic books, pop culture, dreams and nightmares”.
David’s influence is looking to higher possibilities, he wants the “windows to be percived as hallucinations” and have a “magic quality”.
‘Obsessive Metals’ concept for windows. Wood, paper, brass, tiles as the design soloution. The window displays correspond towards the idea of a fashion story, the fantasy.
Rich and beautiful, craftsmanship and quality all make up a Bergdorf Window. Experience makes it work.
The windows are “like a jewel”- Stefan Gabbana
Long history between Christian Dior and Bergdorfs.
Sales drop at Bergdorfs
“Direct window into the American consumer”- Stephanie Clifford, Retail reporter, NY Times
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