WWD Wednesday: Barneys Unveils Holiday Windows

The holiday season is right around the corner, and what could get us FIT students more in spirit than the decoration of the store windows! Barneys unveiled their season's incredible windows at 10am this morning. The "Floating Skies" and "City Lights" windows seem to be inspired by a futuristic version of Manhattan. Much of the artwork is very angular and three-dimensional. The high tech interactiveness is taken to the next level in the "City Lights" window where people can actually sit inside on Santa's sleigh and take a trip across New York via an LED screen placed in front of them.

Oh what fun!

Here are some of the pictures from WWD:

And check out the Instagram videos of the window displays on the BarneysNYofficial account!

Update: Carine Roitfeld

Only a couple months after leaving her position of Editor-in-Chief of the famous Vogue Paris, Carine Roitfeld has already begun another project! She's been hired by Barney's New York to team up with Creative Director, Dennis Freedman, and work on the stores next ad campaign!

One of the greatest editors of our time.

Update: Barneys New York

Good looking CEO, if you ask me...

As we reported before, Mark Lee's new reign at Barney's New York has been a major story in the fashion retail world. In only 4 months Lee has shuffled some of the major roles of the company's executive panel. The moves are now being interpreted as a reinvention of Barneys itself. 


Since Lee took over as the company's CEO in September, Barneys which had been without a CEO for almost 2 years, has made some pretty controversial choices:

•  In November, the firing of Julie Gilhart, Senior Vice President and Women's Fashion Director,  and Judy Collinson, Executive Vice President overseeing all of womenswear and Barneys.com came as a shock to the retail industry. 
• They were succeeded by former Gucci colleagues Daniella Vitale, taking over as Executive Vice President, and Amanda Brooks, taking over as Vice President and Women's Fashion Director.
• A sign the Madison Avenue Flagship store will also receive a major face lift is the hiring of Dennis Freedman, former Creative Director of W Magazine, to be the new Creative Director of the Barneys store.  He succeeds Simon Doonan.

Simon Doonan (Left)  and Dennis Freedman (Right)

For years we have looked up to Barneys New York for its uniqueness, housing the collections of the latest and greatest talent in the fashion industry, now there seems to be some new priorities for the company.

In an attempt to regain it's profitability, Barneys new priorities now include:

• A reevaluation of it's stores for profitability.
• A reevaluation of it's merchandising mix, meaning we will probably be seeing less of the younger, fresher talent of the fashion industry and more of the commercial product. 
• An expansion of it's commercially successful Co-Op stores, along with more investment into it's e-commerce ability.

With all these changes one has to wonder, will Barneys still hold that specialness that attracts us there for the newest in fashion design talent?

Personally, I hope their gallery-esque atmosphere doesn't change too much!

No matter what though as participants in this fashion world we MUST remember, in the end , FASHION IS A BUSINESS! And though the reign of Mark Lee may seem harsh to some, to the owners of the company, he is hoped to be a savior. Lee will most likely be able to pull it all off with his incredible experiences in luxury fashion retail, we will just have to continue reading up on our WWD! 

WWD- Mark Lee Seen as Man to Bring New Era to Barneys

The Full Report: Barneys New York = DRAMA!

The soap opera drama at Barneys is probably some of the most exciting in the fashion industry today! Why is it important? What exactly is going on? Let me break it down for you!

They NEED a reality TV show....

• September 1st, 2010: Mark Lee, former CEO of Gucci Group, officially starts as CEO of Barneys New York, who has gone almost 2 years without a president. 
• The first major shake up happens in November, with the firing of Julie Gilhart, Senior Vice President and Women's Fashion Director,  and Judy Collinson, Executive Vice President overseeing all of womenswear and Barneys.com.

Judy and Julie who are veterans at Barneys...now that is major news for the industry! Mark Lee, who is to focus on getting the business back to profitability, and entering the international market, is making some serious moves.

Judy Collionson leave's an impeccable career at Barneys. Known for her strong relationships with some of the world's most influential designers and for her incredible taste level, Judy brought a lot of talent to the forefront of retailing. She is credited with DISCOVERING Alexander Wang. How you can let someone like that go, I just don't know.

Julie Gilhart leaves being known as the voice of Barneys, personally she has been on my list of people to meet for years. The Julie-Judy combination seemed unstoppable, Julie often being out in the media promoting Barneys the way Judy would be too shy to do.

He's lucky he's gorg. Because Julie is my girl!

• His former colleague at Gucci, Daniella Vitale, succeeds Judy Collinson as Executive Vice President at the end of November.

The question now is: who is to succeed Julie Gilhart as Senior VP and Women's Fashion Director?

• The best rumors have been put to rest, Sarah Rutson will NOT be leaving Lane Crawford for the job, and neither will Virginia Smith, who was rumored to be considering leaving Vogue for the position. So for now the hunt goes on!
• HOWEVER! In the latest of scandals, Lee has appointed another former Gucci colleague, Charlotte Blechman, as Barneys’ senior vice president of Communications and Marketing. This leads to the speculation that Simon Doonan, the store’s creative director, on advertising and visual presentations, may be "let go" in May when his contract expires.

Julie Gilhart (left) at a Barneys event with Virgina Smith (right)

It is incredible to see the relationships of these people move them from one company to another, from one position to another. With experience this proves you never stop learning, and the industry is ALWAYS interesting. Keep your contacts alive and well and one day they could be reaching out to you, or hopefully you would want to hire them.

Eyes will have to be peeled for the latest Barneys headlines as Mark's reign continues to unfold. As of now his management style could be questioned and considered very ruthless, however, is that what Barneys needs after going without a head for so long? Only time and the quarterly results will be able to tell.

Mark Lee Named Barneys CEO - WWD

Barneys Said Eyeing Fashion Director - WWD

Barneys Taps Daniella Vitale - WWD

The Hunt Is Still On For Barneys - WWD