Bergdorf Goodman Reveals ‘Isn’t It Brilliant’ for the Holiday Season
Bergdorf Goodman is ushering in the holiday season with a new campaign titled “Isn’t It Brilliant,” featuring a dazzling display of holiday inspiration across its windows, throughout the store, on digital channels and through a series of activations.
Focused on the magic of the holidays and the creativity for which Bergdorf’s is known, the 360-degree holiday programming is designed to inspire customers.
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Bergdorf’s unveiled its holiday windows, aglow with light, mirrors, chrome, ice, dazzling surfaces and vivid neon, on Thursday. As is tradition, the windows were developed in-house by Bergdorf Goodman’s design team. Each of the seven windows offer a unique take on the theme with a special storytelling narrative.
For example, “First Light” depicts a collection of domestic animals covered in mirror mosaic with monumental roosters beckoning the sunrise. On the other end of Fifth Avenue is “The Best and Brightest,” a celebration of knowledge and learning with vintage-inspired signs, flashing lights and a neon light bulb illuminating the big idea. On 58th Street, onlookers can see “Tripping the Light Fantastic,” a high-drama display featuring mosaic-mirrored Pegasi set with neon-outlined wings in a Venetian-mirrored salon.
The Bergdorf Goodman designers that are featured in the windows this season include Thom Browne, CD Greene, Balmain, Rodarte, Alexander McQueen, Naeem Khan, Simone Rocha, Jil Sander, Christopher John Rogers and Paco Rabanne, among others.
“We’re doing everything we can think of that was brilliant — visually, symbolically and otherwise. Every connotation of the word ‘brilliant’ is how we planned this,” said David Hoey, senior director of visual presentation at Bergdorf’s.
The neon window, for example, was centered around the idea of “being brilliant,” he said. “[The vintage neon signs] were all custom made and they’re inspired by [places like] Las Vegas and Times Square. Our neon signs are mostly blue and white and Bergdorf Goodman lavender. All the signs are flashing, and lights are blazing. The subject matter of all these signs has to do with thinking and being brilliant. They’re all about the thought process itself,” he said.
A mannequin wearing a flamboyant Libertine jacket sits on the floor with a neon sign in the shape of a light bulb over her head. “She’s thinking all this stuff. It’s psychedelic in a way, it’s trippy,” said Hoey.
Hoey explained that creating the windows is a 10-month-long process, and the fashion comes in toward the end.
“The clothing that goes into the windows probably hasn’t been designed yet [when they first start working on the windows]. We curate the fashion as if we were doing a show. Since it’s Bergdorf Goodman, we have a lot to choose from. We shop the store, we shop the runways, designers will send us special runway pieces that are available by special order, or we have designers make special looks for us,” Hoey said.
Several months ago, CD Greene asked Hoey what Bergdorf’s was doing for holiday, and Hoey said the retailer planned to use a lot of mirrors. “Well, I’m the mirror guy,” said Greene. He made “a mirror dress extraordinaire,” said Hoey.
Hoey’s team designed seven windows along Fifth Avenue and 58th Street. They’re 13.5 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and 5 feet deep. “It’s a concentrated space. It’s a little like a stage. It’s a commercial art space,” he said.
To accomplish the holiday window feat, Bergdorf’s has at least 100 people — a right hand and left hand, as Hoey describes — working on the project. The right hand works in windows year-round, and the left helps for the holiday project. The people who work on the holiday windows are “like an independent production company,” he said, one that includes an established stable of artists with different specialities (including this year, neon).
He said there’s a little bit of animation in the windows. “We’re not that big on technology for its own sake. I tend to like old-fashioned technology which is known as simple animation,” he said.
The company has many mannequins, which are used and re-used in many different ways. “We usually make sure our mannequins are doing something, other than just posing,” he said. “If we need a certain pose and we can’t find it back there, we’ll do a custom fabrication to make it.”
There are three musician mannequins in the window Bergdorf’s is calling “In the Limelight,” which is a jazz combo. Another window is an ice skating fantasy called “Star Power,” featuring a giant, kaleidoscopic, mirrored crystal spinning on the back wall as a background to some ice skating daredevils.
This year, there’s also a window with 100 percent reused props. Every year Bergdorf’s likes to “overdo it,” and this year’s “overdone window,” features items that are revamped, re-polished, recycled and reused, he said.
Over the years, the team has collected and made human hands and sculptures. “We pulled every hand in the warehouse and gave it a light bulb theme,” he said. It’s called, “Many Hands Make Light Work.”
Hoey has been at Bergdorf’s since 1996 and has been designing the windows since 2006, reporting to Linda Fargo, senior vice president, fashion and store presentation director.
The windows opened Thursday at 6 p.m. and will be up through Jan. 1.
On Dec. 1, Bergdorf’s will launch its holiday campaign, “Unboxing Brilliance,” appearing across digital channels with a series of short films featuring designers, style icons, and the Bergdorf Goodman family as they unbox exclusive products developed for the retailer this season.
In the campaign, Leandra Medine Cohen reveals a Bode jacket; Roberto Rossellini unveils a Balenciaga snowboard; New York City Ballet’s Mira Nadon reveals her Le Monde Beryl ballet slippers; Marc Jacobs has a handbag of his own design surrounded by models in his Runway collection; Fargo opens a Libertine jacket; and personal shopper, stylist and author Betty Halbreich opens a set of Baccarat glasses, among others.
Elle Strauss, chief creative officer of Bergdorf’s, said, “Our holiday campaign this year, ‘Unboxing Brilliance,’ came out of a desire to showcase the extraordinary items one can only find at Bergdorf Goodman. Each of the films bring to life the uniquely Bergdorf spirit, a sense of whimsy, fun and surprise. We had the pleasure of working with the most inspiring individuals as our cast, from visionary designers to fashion icons, to create this distinct series of festive films.”
For the first time, Bergdorf’s has formed the Bergdorf Goodness Foundation Fund, a social responsibility initiative. The fund is focused on improving the lives of underserved communities in New York City through experiences in the arts. As an ongoing program, the Bergdorf Goodness Foundation Fund will select nonprofit beneficiaries that align with its mission. As the foundation’s first beneficiary, the retailer has partnered with Culture for One to support its mission of transforming the lives of New York City children in foster care through the power of the arts. The organization’s Cultural Excursions, Art Scholarships and Arts Workshops programs inspire creativity, create community and introduce vulnerable young people to broader possibilities for their future. This holiday season, customers will have the opportunity to join Bergdorf’s in donating to Culture for One at checkout locations throughout the store.
“While we were defining what the Bergdorf Goodness Foundation Fund would become, we were immediately drawn to Culture for One’s shared mission to bring the arts to children in foster care in New York City. They are doing important work in championing young people by inspiring creativity and providing them with possibilities for the future. We’re immensely grateful to be able to partner with Culture for One and to shed a spotlight on this wonderful organization,” Melissa Xides, chief retail officer at Bergdorf’s, said.
While Bergdorf’s has historically worked with philanthropic partners in the holiday season and through individual initiatives, the Bergdorf Goodness Foundation Fund is the company’s first ongoing charitable initiative focusing on a single mission, she said.
Internally, Neiman Marcus Group’s Power of One People Strategy continues with a new holiday tradition — the Magic Maker Series — that’s featured on NMG’s corporate social channels and the weekly internal newsletter. This associate engagement campaign offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into NMG’s holiday planning, highlighting the many associates and roles that contribute to the ongoing legacy of creating holiday magic, and “Revolutionizing Luxury Experiences” for its customers across NMG.
Throughout the season, Bergdorf’s will offer more than 700 exclusive products across fashion, jewelry, home decor, beauty and menswear. Some of the programming highlights include Diptyque engraving, tastings with Mariebelle, Angelina and Serendipity, a locket bar with Monica Rich Kosann, Berluti Patina workshop and Scotch tasting in the men’s store, an appearance by artist Donald Robertson, and a Smythson personalization station.
“We’ll be programming countless facets of the store all season long with special events and surprises so that the Bergdorf Goodman experience, with its incredible history, remains as memorable as ever,” said Xides.
This year, BG Restaurant has partnered with the Park Lane New York to develop a signature cocktail menu inspired by three fashion designers’ favorite seasonal drinks. With recipes developed by Park Lane’s mixology team, the menu includes Christopher John Rogers’ Cranberry Skirt, Sergio Hudson’s Escalade Margarita, and Diotima’s Hibiscus Royale. The drinks will appear on the menu at BG Restaurant and Park Lane New York’s rooftop establishment, Darling. For the first time ever, BG Restaurant will operate extended hours, offering dinner service until 8 p.m. every night except Sundays, from Nov. 24 through Dec. 23.
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