MIke Albo Goes Shopping:

Bargain District Edition

Online Shopping Update:

Gilt Groupe Grows A Thrifty Sibling

Window Scandal!

Barneys Dismantles Violent Diplay

Barneysblood
It's been a while since we had a good window scandal.
If you can't count on customers to buy, you can always bet money that they will tell you what they think, and we are certain that the sales associates at Barneys have gotten more than an earful about the displays pictured above.
We know that some visual associate thought a "Godfather" style massacre display would be cool and edgy without thinking that most people, even those sophisticated enough to shop at Barneys, would be more likely to find it frightening, violent and offensive.
We saw these pictures on RACKED a few days ago, and were curious to see how the displays looked in person, but we will have to live without that privilege, since the scene has been dismantled.
We totally get the thinking on both sides. On the one hand, it sort of reminds us of the cult fashion/slasher film "The Eyes Of Laura Mars", but on the other, without Faye Dunaway's glamour, it's hard to get past the ugly, grisly murder it portrays. Perhaps images of elegant ladies getting riddled with bullets are not as useful in selling party frocks as someone thought. They sure will get attention, though.
The display went up not in the exterior windows, but in the entrance vestibule vitrines while creative director Simon Doonan was reportedly out of town. He tells The Daily News "We encourage our display people to be creative. We give them a lot of latitude, but this clearly crossed the line...It's as if someone saw a bad Hitchcock movie." After multiple press inquiries, the windows were taken down, but we can just imagine what those salespeople posted just inside the doors had to hear until that happened.
Bloody Mess as Barneys Kills Display (NY Daily News)
In the Window: Barneys Dresses In Which To Be Caught Dead (RACKED)

Comments

The comments to this entry are closed.