It's This Time of The Year...

... when the windows at Bergdorf Goodman get at their peak.

This Christmas the work of American designer Tony Duquette inspired the people behind the windows display at Bergdorf Goodman.

Duquette was discovered in Los Angeles by one of the greatest pioneers in interior design, Lady Elsie de Wolfe Mendl, under whose patronage the designer was able to meet people in the movie industry (who knows who worked at the time too).
He created costumes and set designs for directors such Vincente Minelli and was a regular in designing for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (although not credited, he designed costumes for the famous film Ziegfeld Follies).

Tony Duquet designed interiors for actress Mary Pickford (she was her "matron of honor" at his wedding), for the Duchess of Windsor, Elizabeth Arden... and he was the first American to exhibit at the Louvre in Paris. Not bad, huh?.

Christmas 2007 at Bergdorf Goodman ...





/// Navidad es la época del año en que los creativos detras de los escaparates de Bergdorf Goodman se ponen de gala creando los escaparates más espectaculares y los que más atención acaparan. Este año ha sido el diseñador americano Tony Duquette el que ha servido de inspiración.
Tony Duquette fue descubierto en Los Angeles por la gran pionera del diseño de interiores Lady Elsie de Wolfe Mendl con la que tuvo oportunidad de entrar en contacto con lo mejorcito de la industria cinematografica.
Duquette trabajó como diseñador de vestuario y escenógrafo en diversas producciones para la Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (aunque no fue acreditado, el desarrollo diversos trajes para la famosa
Ziegfeld Follies) y trabajaria con directores de la talla de Vicente Minelli.
Tony Duquette diseñaría interiores para la gran Mary Pickford (quien fue dama de honor en su boda), para la Duquesa de Windsor, o para Elizabeth Arden... y fue el primer Americano en exhibir su trabajo en el Museo del Louvre en Paris... nada mal, no?.

More Bergdorf Goodman For You

I went to the MET this morning to see the amazing exhibition Tapestries in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor, which I hope to speak about very soon and if you are in the city please DO NOT MISS.

Coming back home I passed by Bergdorf Goodman and saw they were removing the windows displays of the front side of the building.

They weren't as spectaculars as the ones I posted before- they showed the Cruises collections and everything was too Spring-y (butterflies, birds...) for the season.
But I had the pictures taken anyway (at the same time as the others) and decided to dig up in my computer to find them and show them to you, considering the success that these windows have among us. They are some piece of "history" now...

PS: In the last trio of pictures, the first one is the only one that don't feature a cruise collection: it's Harper's Bazaar 140th anniversary and Bergdorf Goodman pays homage to it featuring the most famous covers of their history.

Brett Day Windham for Bergdorf Goodman's Windows display

I feel a little like miss Holly Golightly approaching Tiffany's in the morning every time I leave my house late at night to go to Bergdorf Goodman to take pictures of their windows. I stick my face in the glass and it's hard for me to move: I'm in awe.

Now you wonder why on Earth I do go at night instead of choosing anytime during the day I might be passing by. The reason is very simple: at night there's no one blocking the view and the reflections in the glass are none whatsoever. It's the perfect time.

The right side of the building is always the most creative one and it's always the last I choose to photograph (I like to keep the good things for the end).

The artist Brett Day Windham is the person behind the great soft sculptures that surround the mannequins in the current displays. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any information about her anywhere.

Halloween Scenes And Other Stories

Halloween is carved pumpkins, trick-or-treat, horror movies and candy candy. Orange & purple are the colors of the season, skulls, coffins and black velvet dresses; tonight America's dancing with the muertos...

Back in Spain we celebrate the spooky night tonight as well and it's called "La Víspera de Todos los Santos", which sounds quite similar to Halloween when you translate it to English: "All hallow's Eve".

The story of this festivity is a very tragic one, it dates back in the days to Roman Emperor Diocletian's Christian's persecution in 303 AC.
A total of 3,000–3,500 Christians got killed (among them Saint Lucy, the lovely girl in the painting, whose story can be read only for those with strong stomach) and each of them, alas a martyr, became a Saint.
The poor Christians left remained in panic and horror, also with the concern of finding a celebration day for each martyr: a year has 365 days and they needed at least 3,500 ...
They ended up choosing a day to celebrate them all together, a smart and very Christian solution. The day, November 1st, became official when Pope Gregory the III said so.

The night before this famous date, the Saints Day, is the All hallow's Eve, where, I guess, the ghosts start to get ready for the party the following day.

The concept is pretty much the same as in America's Halloween, ghosts and horror stories, add some ring of bells and buy chrysanthemums rather than pumpkins. The play "Don Juan" is shown every year on TV and this is one of our National Holidays, therefore no one has to work the following day.

Let's recapitulate fashion moments of this year's Halloween ..

* Sportmax (what did happen with their website?) decorated its mannequins with bat-man wire wings... a very settle and elegant way to dress the "creepy".










* Mexican dolls from El Dia De los Muertos (Day of The Dead) in a jewelry store's windows in Key West.
It was pouring that night but i took the risk of fucking up my camera to take their picture because they're amazing and i loved the dresses they were wearing.



* This hotty Centaur was trotting in the restaurant where I was taking lunch with a friend this morning.
I couldn't resist the temptation of taking my picture with him


HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!

Two Italian Masters

It gives me great pleasure to recognize, with no help other than my brain-archive, the inspirations behind shows, windows or editorials: my head is not that empty after all... The current mannequins featured at Prada in Soho, remind me quite a bit to Greek-born, Italian-blooded Metaphysical Art's father Giorgio De Chiricho's disquieting dummys ...

The color palette is mostly the same; earthy oranges, sandy browns, cream and off whites ... and the mannequins themselves can't be more alike.

Ballons for Anthropologie

The store windows at Anthropologie in NY are these days full of balloons and colours.
It was a rainy day when i spot them, and they made me put my camera off the case and take some pictures.

Animals Go Wild In Bergdorf Goodman

Zebras, Bears, Crows.. animals go wild and rock&roll in this Spring 07 Bergdorf Goodman window shopping spread in New York..

Simple Prada

Simple and yet so creative... PRADA windows for Spring 07 , 5th Avenue, NY.

Shop Windows

I like to go out at night just to take pictures of the best shop windows.. the streets are more quite , the lighting pops-up the shop windows and there's not that many people blocking you from taking a good picture. these images are from last Nov 13th. That day was all about minimalism.

JPG 30th Anniversary in Bergdorf Goodman

Last September, the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman celebrated the 30th Design Anniversary of Jean Paul Gaultier featuring five windows with his creations.
Under the supervision of David Hoey, senior director of the BG windows design, the creative team recreated five scenes with the most popular moments of the French Designer.
As always, Bergdorf Goodman creative team didn't disappoint a bit.

Stage, Film and the Red Carpet.




The Corset



Gender Bending



The Trench Coat



The Ethnic Influence