NYC Blog: Men's Fashion, Retail and Visual Merchandising | The Bespoken: For Gentlemen

ALL MY PRODUCTS

Call them soap operas, or a daytime drama, but by any other name they would smell as sweet, maybe even lemon fresh like Pledge spray wax or Joy dishwashing detergent. We might dismiss the “Soaps” as fodder, but rest assured the end of an era, like vaudeville is upon us. Two of America’s most beloved TV shows have been cancelled! Unfortunately, these shows were once totally sponsored by the makers of Ivory, Tide and Wisk, but are no longer solely owned by the likes of Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive or Lever Brothers. Soap operas which were named after the company's focus on using them as a vehicle to sell soap and other new and improved household items are gasping their final rinse.

Back in the era of domesticity, Spic & Span, Dove, Biz, Camay, Dash and Tide promised a world free from the embarrassment of waxy yellow buildup, where we could see our reflection in our dinner dishes, we were rescued by a white night or white tornado, and no longer had hands as rough as sandpaper or lobster claws.

ABC has announced that as part of a continued shift away from daytime drama programming, "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" will be cancelled, faster than Erica Kane can drive off a cliff or get over bout amnesia. Soap operas will be replaced with less costly talk shows and lifestyle programming. Their replacements will be "The Chew," (The View, The Talk) which is about food, and hosted by Mario Bataldi, and "The Revolution," a makeover show, hosted by Tim Gunn. Non-scripted reality is replacing scripted reality. Give me a slimy black-mailer or evil patriarch any day. Oh wait a minute…maybe that’s what ABC is doing.

Soap opera ratings have seen a steady decline in ratings since the 1990’s. A daily average of 6.5 million viewers watched soaps during the 1991-92 TV season, while just 1.3 million watched in 2009-2010. Ergo, soap sales have seen a decline in market share. Guess what, mom is busy pulling in a second income, she’s not spray starching our pinafores. But even if mom was at home she’s watching cable, in truth, all of the major networks and their TV shows have seen a steady decline in ratings/viewership. But those other shows are being cancelled. So what’s really up?

In a scathingly brilliant publicity stunt, iconic vacuum company Hoover has announced that it is pulling ads like a carpet from below our proverbial feet from ABC in protest over the cancellation of long-running daytime dramas "All My Children" and "One Life to Live."

"We will discontinue our advertising with ABC this Friday, 4/22," Hoover VP Marketing, Brian Kirkendall wrote on the company's facebook page. "We're making every attempt to pull our spots from these programs sooner." VPM Kirkendall writes: "I want you to know from me personally that we hear you loud and clear. My wife and mother are both passionate viewers of All My Children and One Life to Live, as are many of my colleagues here at Hoover. Laudable, but I doubt anyone at Hoover is hanging out in the break room watching Vicki Riley (Erika Slezak) lapse back into schizophrenia.

The Revenge of Erica Kane…

Hoover is not only promoting its public protest on Facebook, it has also set up an email address to allow consumers to voice their disappointment at losing their "Stories" at  SaveTheSoaps@Hoover.com.

Hoover is speaking for many of us, the disenfranchised that enjoy our guilty pleasures and want to visit the world of Pine Valley and Lanview, where we can wash off the filth of revenge, greed, avarice, marital infidelity, teen pregnancy, justifiable homicide, with  a box of new and improved Wisk

A Profile: Denise Foley

 

“Look for the woman in the dress. If there is no woman, there is no dress“.  Coco Chanel

I have known Denise Foley for the better part of a decade. We are not really friends, certainly, we do not “hang out” together, but we are genuinely fond of one another. I guess that the best way to describe our relationship is collegial. We have worked with one another as client and manufacturer and as mentor and supervisor. We do tend to know many of the same people and run into each other at industry events. When we do, we always have lots to catch up on.

So today, if you are not familiar with her, I would like to introduce you to one of New York’s most chic women, Denise Foley. We had a late lunch at Le Pain Quotidien on the Upper East Side. Our purpose… commiseration and the need to find affirmation, an attribute Ms. Foley has in abundance. Regrettably, Le Pain Quotidien had already run out of their classic almond pear Danish, so I had a mediocre chocolate croissant. We did not talk about religion, sex or politics; we talked about three more fascinating topics, fashion, fashion and fashion. It was a perfect afternoon except for the fact that Coco Chanel was not able to join us. It is spring technically, but the air is still brisk. Outside the cozy patisserie the hyacinths and daffodils seem to shiver.

Ms. Foley is a true New Yorker. Denise is a true petite. Ms. Foley is dressed in a sleeveless black leather A-line dress. It designer escapes me. Under her dress is jet-black knit top, which is as sheer as her noir colored stockings and three-inch tuxedo black heels. The ensemble is finished with a chalkboard black belted black wool coat with a deep portrait collar, and gathered about her neck is an ash black cashmere fringed scarf coiled like a Slinky. I detect six different shades that perfectly harmonize and is accessorized by one indelible item, Denise’s flaming red hair. Chanel, were she alive would rave, “Mon petite… c'est magnifique!” and then probably bollocks up the works with unnecessary strands of pearls and chains. Ms. Foley personifies Chanel’s classic quote, Denise wears the dress, and the dress does not wear her.

Where did Denise get her fashion acumen? Ms. Foley was the Visual Director of Interiors for RTW for America’s most discriminating retailer, Bergdorf Goodman.

  

Lest this escape you, Bergdorf Goodman’s has eight floors, and one is only more beautiful then the next. This did not just happen. There were no genies in brass lamps, or magicians with magic wands to conjure up the Ready To Wear program, abracadabra style, there was a talented Visual Merchandiser (Denise Foley) who worked her way up the corporate ladder. A ladder traditionally dominated by hierarchical employees clinging to every rung. Ms. Foley may only stand about five foot five, but her talent towers over her diminutive size. Algebra is not my bailiwick, but Denise could be described as having talent squared (in an equation: talent 2).

What do two Visual Merchandisers and Fashionistas talk about when they get together? Here are just some of the topics we cram into an hour and a half. We discuss how we have both decided (that without even seeing it yet); we are going to love the Alexander McQueen “Savage Beauty” retrospective at the Met (it doesn’t open until May 4^th). Tom Fords film “A Single Man” (sheer perfection). We elaborate on the most minute details, like the correctness of the swizzle sticks on the bar in Julianne Moore’s home. Then we move on to Tom Fords shop on Madison Avenue, which I joke “that there is so much ultra suede I half expect Halston to descend the stair case with his lorgnette“. We scrutinize every retailer in SoHo, the Flatiron District, Madison and Fifth Avenue. We lament the changes at Barneys, and wonder what our dear Simon Doonan thinks of it all. Rest assured, some day the fur shall fly! We talk about the shows at the Met, Cooper Hewitt, MoMA and the German Expressionist exhibit at the Neue Galerie. We debate the “Japan Now” exhibit at FIT’s Fashion Museum. We dissect the new J. Crew Store, Gucci, Urban Outfitters, Uniqulo, H & M, Zara and run through our lists of what we hated and loved, despise and adore. We both were awe struck with the Bill Cunningham documentary “New York”. And as well as we thought we knew him our admiration has only deepened. We talk at length about the new generation gap, between them and us. Now, as a gentleman I would never divulge a woman age, but I can tell you I’m fifty-four and Denise is a good deal younger than I. (For emphasis…a good deal!) Still, we operate in a world increasing managed by people that think that Roberto Cavalli is couture. The mind reels. We talk about art and costume direction in films, like Red Riding Hood, which is beautiful to look at, but appallingly scripted. Other tangential topic include Tim Burton, Richard Serra, The Berg Fashion Library, GANT, Felisimo, our favorite shows on HBO, Fendi, WWD, technology and infuriating office politics. Mind you I have not had my second cup of English breakfast tea yet.

 

Like so many of us, the economy has not been kind. We have dedicated ourselves to our craft and devoted ourselves to our employers. We have institutional knowledge and understand the shorthand of our superiors. Still, we are not immune. Talent carries us far, but not always far enough. The sword of Damocles still falls as corporate environments reduce staffs. We have seen businesses “restructure”, and we are called in to the Directors office and apologized to as we are escorted to the door. Such has been Ms. Foley recent series of events. I had mine a few years ago. The Bible says that “to everything there is a season”. If jobs are like seasons, then Denise’s spring is soon turning to summer. Ms. Foley is looking forward to life’s great journey. What is on the next page of the book of her life is not yet written. Perhaps you will fill it in.

 

I can elaborate what is on the prior pages of the book of her life. Ms Foley held three of the most prestigious positions in Visual Merchandising in New York City. She was Director of Interiors, RTW, Bergdorf Goodman. She was the Senior Visual Manager at Bloomingdale's, and the Fashion Manager/Window Display Lord & Taylor. This is the Triple Crown of our industry. If Ms. Foley did nothing else, you would be well served. That being said, Denise has an expertise in curatorial skills; sourcing and exhibiting art in collaboration with galleries and artists, she has a formidable talent for mannequin presentation; which is tempered with an extensive knowledge of fashion history and trends, and bonus, she has an intrinsic understanding of merchandise presentation with a focus on branding and identity. If you are a museum developing your fashion collection, an art gallery in need of someone with a flawless eye, a luxury brand in need of a mercurial person to ensure corporate branding or a mainstream retailer eager to strengthen your team and develop your business visually, the hand of God as directed you to this site to give you the message, “Listen to me. Here is the answer to your prayers”.

If you have had the pleasure to step into Bergdorf Goodman’s you have seen Denise Foley’s work. Like gossamer, her work is here and there, rising like the aroma of the fine fragrances that magically waft up from the lower lever of the store. It is a well chosen chair, a lithograph that makes you smile, hugging the wall beside the elevator bay, an unexpected grouping of mannequins waiting for you like a surprise, or a teal colored Murano glass vase on a niche above a designers hang bar. It is so perfectly balanced, and harmonizes so flawlessly that you couldn’t possible imagine anything else being there. Ms. Foley like all gifted Visual Merchandisers is a storyteller. She knows how to pull together props, decoratives, fixtures and furniture to compliment the designers collection, to articulate the clothing like it were a fairy tale with a happy ending.

 

Ms. Foley is a graduate of Fashion Institute of Technology AS, Display & Exhibit Design and graduated Magna Cum Laude, She studied at the Paris Fashion Institute receiving her Certificate, in Fashion Merchandising, and studied at Fisher College AS, Business Administration graduating Cum Laude; minor in Fashion Merchandising.

Is it just me extolling her virtues, gracious no….

“Denise is one of the most passionate and creative people I know. Her knowledge of fashion both current and past, attention to detail and follow through ensure that she always does a fabulous job with every task, large or small, sent her way. As a director and manager, she is firm but fair and always gets the best results possible from her staff. I would not hesitate to include Denise in any creative endeavor.” Michael Dominick, Assistant Building Manager, the Metropolitan Museum of Art

“I have worked directly for Denise at two different companies (Bergdorf Goodman and Bloomingdale's). She is a strong leader and always inspired me to do better. Denise helped me achieve my recent career goals and build my creative talents. Denise has a spectacular eye for perfection that would bring any stores standards to a higher level. She would be an asset to any organization.” Sarah Martinez, Visual Manager 5F, Bergdorf Goodman

“Denise Foley is a highly motivated professional with enormous creative talent who possesses an in depth knowledge of retail. Denise's high standards would elevate any company she works for“. Douglas Yuen, Vice President of Sales, Adel Rootstein Display Mannequins USA

Recognition from our industry does not easily fall, Denise is the recipient of the 2005 Support Award for Outstanding Achievement, Bloomingdale's, the 2004 Quarterly Recognition Award, Bloomingdale’s, and the very hard to come by 2002 Red Rose Achievement Award, Lord & Taylor which she was also twice blessed  with in 1996.

You can contact her directly at…

E-mail: dcf_fly@yahoo.com
Website: www.denise-foley.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/denise-foley/14/1ba/3a
Twitter: displayartist 

Denise, like me aspired as a young person to come to New York City, to take part of the fashion, art and design world. Goethe once said, “At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you“. Denise is committed to her craft, so undoubtedly the universe will assist her.

Nobody Does It Better

Recently I did a post called “Rashomon Windows” where I photographed store windows with colleague, Lauren Greis, www.fouthfloorwalkup.com. We traveled together and shot the same windows at the same time to compare how two different people saw the same exact thing.  It was an interesting experiment. I thought I’d put it to the test once again with a slightly different spin.

This is not a blog about the chart-topping 1977 Carly Simon theme song for the James Bond film “The Spy who Loved Me”.  This is a blog contrasting and comparing the same or similar retailers, albeit one in the United Kingdom, and one in the United States. The photos were taken on Sunday afternoon, April 17^th. The photos from the UK are all by Jonathan Baker, www.retailstorewindows.com  and the others are by me. Who does it better, the UK or the US? You be the judge.  If the lyric provide us any clue I might say it’s a draw.

“And nobody does it better
Though sometimes I wish someone could
Nobody does it quite the way you do
Why'd you have to be so good?”

A special round of thanks goes out to mutual colleague, Tanya Reynolds, Creative Director, at Proportion London www.proportionlondon.com  who is supporting our endeavors with a series of posts visa vie social networking. Alas, I do facebook, but I’ve never twittered. It escapes me. Time permitting, visit Tanya’s site at Proportion London, and read the delightful and informative blog, “Miss Mannequin”

A few notes before I post photos and analysis’. In all fairness, if such a thing even exists, Mr. Baker and I decided to cover global retailers known for their corporate roll-outs visually. We chose retailers from the discount, moderate and luxury sectors and we each elected to put in a “wild card” some sort of a surprise retailer. 

 
  
Banana Republic UK Copyright © Jonathan Baker 2011

Everything that goes awry in the US windows goes right in the UK version. In London, the scale of the print is oversize which is easier to read; less cluttered and to me, looks younger, fresher. The UK windows also have the fun topiary elements, which are whimsical and joyful. The topiary adds a much needed layer to the story. With deeper windows to work with, the clothing is shown on mannequins, albeit the perfunctory white headless variety, i.e. stock. With greater sensitivity the UK store opts not to promote its print program, but instead pulls out key colors (in solids) from the print to promote. The UK store also correctly calls out Banana Republic’s new fragrance “Wild Bloom”. Hello! Now that all makes sense!

 Banana Republic USA Copyright © Ron Knoth 2011

While I like shopping at this retailer, I must confide that these windows are shamefully executed. To me they say, “We’re not even trying”. The limp clothing hanging on hangers strung by monofilament are woefully immature. I like the print paper. I like the print clothing. Prints are “hot”. Banana Republic does print very well, but the scale of the two prints is so close in proportion that the clothing almost disappears into the wall. As we say here, state side, "it’s a hot mess". Folks, this is Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue. Their next door neighbor is the elegant Facconable, and this is the best that we can be offered? The windows lack imagination, point of view ,or any ability to entice us to walk in. No more than a few dollars could have been spent on these windows, and I dare say that no more than a few dollars will be generated. Yuck!

 
 
 H & M UK Copyright © Jonathan Baker 2011

The H & M in the UK runs along the same lines at the US version, but I have to say I think Fifth Avenue carries it off a bit better.  I don’t care for the annoying red and white “SALE” sign in London. And the mannequins seem isolated, not interactive. The mannequin presentation is relatively rigid, straight on, and very “on the grid” The lighting values are uniform with little sensitivity to shadow. It's curious how the exact same product feels so different across the pond.

H & M USA Copyright © Ron Knoth 2011

H & M is my new guilty pleasure on 5^th Avenue. They light their presentations very nicely, especially the menswear (side windows) which are almost Rembrantian. The widows reflection captures the stately St. Patrick’s. The back wall is a dull metallic panel that is folded in vertical folds like origami, further capturing and reflecting light. The male mannequin poses are sexy, and casual. The stylizing is beautifully executed, so that every drape is artfully composed. H & M raises the mundane mass manufactured into a desirable commodity. Granted, the fabric quality is circumspect, and the conditions that the clothing is made under begs acknowledgement, but H & M is stealing everyone thunder with superior windows. Once underdogs, this retail is evolving as a prominent Misual Merchandiser.

The women’s (front widows) is promoting "Recycled Polyester", which sounds atrocious, except the fashion is very timely, the all white is welcome. Recycled anything is appealing to the consumer. Clearly this is a retailer who knows where there customer is, and how they feel! The clothing recalls the 60’s and 70’s bohemian chic. Brilliant! The long blond wigs (and eyelashes) on the mannequins speak to a return towards realism. The mannequins support the graphics. H & M once again, gets it right, right down to the floppy straw hat; it’s youthful, joyful and chic!

 
 
Ralph Lauren UK Copyright © Jonathan Baker 2011

While not quite the same programs, still very similar with some crossover. The stylizing is typical Lauren, where every article of clothing is rigged and pinned to tailoring death, still Lauren carries it off. Lauren understands lifestyle, and understands storytelling. Their windows are exactly like their ads, dreamy, elegant, patrician. Every promise the advertisements makes is brilliantly execited three-dimensionally  in their store. The sales floor is like wandering into a Hollywood movie set. It’s the constructed allusion of how we wish life to be, (certainly not how it is). I wonder how the quintessential American Brand is seen in the UK. Ralph Lauren mixes their classic Rootstein mannequins in sierra brown with dressmaker forms which only remind me how much more effective a mannequin is. I will say, I wish Lauren would add to their mix of mannequins, and periodically switch colors.

Ralph Lauren USA Copyright © Ron Knoth 2011

I share with you a series of photos of Ralph Lauren in transit. Here are real live Visual Merchandisers, (as in artists) doing something extraordinary, tromp’ l oil in the windows, as in actual craft and artistry, building props, and finessing every bower of silk ivy so it faces just so. It’s exciting and reaffirming to see that a retailer of Lauren’s stature supports good old fashioned skill. The hand crafted work is beautifully handled. The windows reiterate what the clothing says, we’re unique! Is it worth all the expense and effort?  It is if you want some of the most exquisite windows on Madison Avenue.

 
 
 
Versace UK Copyright © Jonathan Baker 2011

The importance of “brand equity” and the importance of delivering the same message is valuable, still what is the benefit of traveling to the world’s great cities if nearly everything looks the same. Otherwise, the world is just one strip mall. Okay, so Versace in the UK is nearly identical to the USA. It’s important to note that the UK store windows run landscape, whereas the USA runs portrait. This creates a different relationship to what is shown, the ammount of negative space, and the prominence of product to the customer. Proportion affects what we see and how we interpret it. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the US does the same windows just a little bit better.

 Versace USA Copyright © Ron Knoth 2011

Versace understands three of the most important elements of the Visual Merchandising craft, great lighting, color and props. Each supports the other and collectively they support the clothing. The black abstracted mannequins root the windows with sculptural integrity. The bold orange, yellow, red and cerulean blue is dreamy. The plexi psychedelic shapes speak to the late 60’s. Think Susan Haywood as Helen Lawson in Valley of The Dolls singing “I’ll Plant My Tree”. Versace is one valley where the dolls are beautifully attired. Versace is a stand out on the street. Tourists stop by to gape at its dazzling beauty. The color is so heavily satiated that it’s just irresistible. Luckily for me the price tag is resistible for me. Otherwise, I’d blow my paycheck there. I can dream too.

 
 
 Zara UK Copyright © Jonathan Baker 2011

Zara Kids: The UK version follows the US (or vica-versa) fairly closely except the UK store adds the gnome for fun. I think of garden gnomes as being terribly British. Another interesting addition is the realistic mannequin with hair. The question remains, yes, but is it more successful? While I’m drawn to the realistic mannequins, they seem a bit out of context (lost) in the all white world.

 
 
 
Zara UK Copyright © Jonathan Baker 2011

Zara Men’s: In this window I think the UK Zara excels. The seated realistic mannequin with the punk Mohawk is sexy, a bit dangerous, (by US standards) if not for the stylish attire. The striding men with the abbreviated blunt cut is right out of the fashion pages. If that isn’t enough, the too fabulous for words zebra print abstracted men totally sell me. There’s absolutely nothing as inventive as this on Fifth Avenue! The amorphic techno background supports the white attire, and reads as very modern. These windows look like a part of the 21^st century, almost cutting edge. The UK windows seem much more relevant. The Brits win this contest hands down…no debate.

 
 
 
 Zara UK Copyright © Jonathan Baker 2011

Zara Women’s: Again the UK windows are so novel and unexpected that it raises the quality of the merchandise to the next level. The colorful light bulb coiffures are adorable. The silk flowers are great. The strange accessories and color blocking is too perfect. It’s a fashion editorial come to life. The heavy make-up is straight out of the high fashion pages. In America we pale down everything until its practically nothing. The industrial PVC serrated orange scrim is a great example of re-use. I love the homo-erotic men touching each others shoulders behind the plastic veil and the very intresting oversize pop-it beads they're wearing.

Zara USA Copyright © Ron Knoth 2011

Zara Kids: odd and quixotic, I’m not certain what the oversize propellers and coils are meant to symbolize, or how they provide a narrative for the clothing. However, it does make me stop and inquire. The clothing is cute. The predominantly white tableau is an interesting choice, clinical, techno, alienating, but ultimately successful.The cartoony elelashes and Cupie dol lips are almost sexual. Then there's the granny style eyeglasses on the elastic strand. Its defies easy interpretation. What I've yet to figue out is why the little boy is wearing a space helmet and a red gingham shirt. He doesnt appear to be at play. What?

Zara USA Copyright © Ron Knoth 2011

Zara Men’s: Okay, Salvador Dali like moustaches (one irritatingly akilter…drives this anal retentive merchandiser crazy!) are interesting. I like the mix of mannequins and dressmaker forms. Compounded by the oversized atomic sized chrome plated ants again make me wonder what is this all about. The insects are beautiful, and climb up the wall creating a vertical motion suggesting a giant ant hill may be nearby. The ants carry Zara’s silky ties back to who knows where. It’s a strange dream-like kind of Sci-Fi world. The clothing is okay, but not nearly as interesting as the visual elements. Unfortunately for Zara the stylizing is sloppy, the pocket squares looked forced, the shirt cuffs hang too long, and the suits are pinned and bunched unattractively. Given that the flawless Zenga and Ferregamo are nearby, I’d up my stylizing game.

Zara Women: elegant and nicely lit, the windows work well. The sheer dresses and seated mannequins (Schleppi) are used effectively. They seem to be posing and aware of us. The titanium white industrial elements speak to the urbane. And I do like the sunglasses used on the back wall nooked on the side beams.

 
 
Reiss UK Copyright © Jonathan Baker 2011

Our local Reiss is at the moment in transition, and the store has removed all mannequins, and has nothing but suspended bars and fixtures in the windows. So there is no contrast or comparison. The store in the UK is far more interesting to interpret. I love the use of the flat screen technology being incorporated. It speaks to their demographic, which are mostly squed on the millennial side, and add movement and interconnectivity in what would be a relatively static window. For me, what works especially well is the female mannequins with the exaggerated contrapposto pose, which is really very nice. And the male with his legs spread wide is also a nice choice too. Together they create a smart sexy couple. She looks feminine, he looks strong. They look very modern and perfect for this brand. The corporate logo is handled nicely. Its clean lines are linear and add to the composition of the black background.

Barneys USA Copyright © Ron Knoth 2011

Barneys is under new Creative Direction with former Editorial staff from W Magazine. Gone are the whimsy, found objects, and serendipity. Gone is the humor and social commentary. Barneys is evolving into a slicker, more “modern” environment. Ideally more sophisticated. TBD.

These windows are technologically driven, with serrated metal screens light colorfully in neon hues. The light up graphics are very slick and paint a world of women dressed in beautiful prints by the world’s best designers. The women in the photographs are made up as heavily as  kabuki dancers or drag queens. The floor is reflective and the surfaces capture ever movement on Madison Avenue. While technically static the windows are very active. So that works nicely. It’s a very visually complicated window, so much so that it’s nearly impossible to make out the actual clothing. It almost disappears. What really turns me off is the chrome plate mannequins, which are made in China. I know they are made in China because the process used to create them is so carcinogenic that it is illegal to make them in the US, Canada, Mexico, South America or Europe. Workers and communities that live nearby the Chinese manufacturers are at astronomically high rates from cancer. I wish that that message to eliminate these mannequins was better known, alas, no one talks about it, and therefore no one knows.

If you got this far…congratulations! So let me ask you..."Who did it better'?" Now let me invite you once again to read Mr. Bakers interpretation on his phenomenal site www.retailstorewindows.com 

Retail Is Spinach

In 1938, Elizabeth Hawes wrote Fashion Is Spinach which was one of the first, if not the first books taking a critical look at American fashion and what is wrong with it. Her thesis was that America was emerging as a fashion capitol rivaling France and Italy, but that fashion was in general dismissed by Americans because it was associated with women (a marginalized group) the Garment District with its immigrant trades people, (a marginalized group) and that fashion was mass-produced like cars and canned spinach. Ms. Hawes was a genius.

Guess how far we’ve come in the past seventy three years? Not very far. Fashion is still spinach. Let’s play little game, name ten great American designers, not brands, actual people who design. If there is a celebrity on your list cross them off. Not so easy, is it?

Well it’s not just fashion, retail is spinach too. Sameness is killing the American retailer; it’s becoming more and more difficult to distinguish between brands. Does Macy's look that much different from JC Penny, does JC Penny look that much different from Target? Does Target look than much different from Wal-Mart. It’s a red and white world, with large oversize graphics, headless white mannequins, and fixturing straight out of Retail 101. Visually, it’s just one big can of soupy spinach. Granted, spinach is good for you, but a little does go a long way.

The economy has altered our needs and expectations more than retails might suspect. Why should I go into my local department store for a pair of shoes when I can get one at Payless. Why should I shop at Bloomingdale's for this year’s Lanvin or Jimmy Choo when I can get a knock off at H & M or Forever 21. The store experience is virtually the same. Low-end discounters are looking just about as good as the moderate priced monoliths.

Even luxury is a huge yawn. In a recent experiment I cut out advertising from Chanel, D & G, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Gucci, and several other luxury retailers. I cut out all their logo’s and asked students to identify the different brands, with rare exception the ads looked almost identical. It’s a dark slick campaign, men with greased back hair, women with pale skin and ruby red lips, all in a state of undress, and just preparing for some sort of sexual conquest. Yikes! When Chanel looks like MAC Cosmetics, I’m outta here!

Fashion and retail is static, and has been static for years. Good gracious. What we’re wearing today is practically what we were wearing ten years ago, maybe fifteen. Remember when designers and retailers did something different every season? Why do we all get so excited about technology, and having the latest phone, latest ap or latest IPad, because it’s changing. If two thousand people will line up outside Apple's door for forty-eight hours to get the newest IPad, maybe Apple should start designing what we wear. And maybe their designers and architects should be heading over to the local strip mall to create more magical spaces!

Courtesy of www.retaildesigndiva.com where it appeared on April 7, 2011

I Can’t Get It For You Wholesale!

Never mind how great your window presentations are, or how cute the sales people are, Abercrombie & Fitch may be packing them in by taking it off, but Jane Doe,  average female consumer isn’t necessarily giving them the time of day.  If you want your store to get a second glance from female shoppers, the best way is to offer them a bargain. According to a national poll over three-quarters of women (76 percent to be exact) consider themselves to be “bargain hunters”, with 10 percent admitting they enjoy the challenge of finding the best deal. Our primordial ancestors were after all gatherers. It’s inbred; it’s a part of our DNA.

Money is the shoppers' main motivation in product selection, with 40 percent of women saying they “bargain shop” because they are on a limited budget, according to a national poll that appeared in Consumers Union’s ShopSmart magazine. They may not be Second Hand Roses, but price point is the tipping point.

Straws do not always break the retail camel’s back. Price point is not the only reason why many women go bargain shopping. Even if money were no object, 83 percent of women polled said they would still seek out a deal. And when they’re bargain-hunting, they’re not shy about using coupons. Hello technology! Where’s my Val-pack? Nine out of ten (91 percent) of women use coupons to get a better deal (including 51 percent who print coupons from the Internet), 29 percent use competitor coupons, and 11 percent use coupons directly off their cell phones. www.retailmenot.com is just one successful example where today’s consumers get discounts.

What do women want? Retail Analysis: when placed on the couch female shoppers also hate to overspend, according to the survey. Two-thirds of women (65 percent) typically wait for a sale to purchase items and 37 percent feel guilty if they pay full price without trying to get a deal.“I’m such a sucker for a bargain, especially when I have a coupon or there’s a sale for 50 percent off,” said Lisa Lee Freeman, editor-in-chief of ShopSmart. According to ShopSmart’s poll, “many of us are helpless against a great deal, and retailers know this. However, there are so many new opportunities these days to shop smarter, and if you play the game right, you can save really big.”

But bargain-hunting women aren't immune to buyer's remorse when they buy something on sale that they don’t need. Nearly two-thirds of female shoppers have regretted at least one sale purchase, according to the poll. (Likely culprits, jeggings, neon leopard print,  goat hair Uggs, and puppet eyelashes. Of those who do have sales regret, only 38 percent typically try to rectify their error by returning the item; 16 percent will just put it in a closet or drawer. Oh the shame!

Retail Proselytizing”: when they do score a bargain, female shoppers like to spread the good word.  The majority of the survey respondents (90 percent) like to share the news of their bargains with others, including over one-third (35 percent) who tell anyone who will listen. That explains the crazy woman on the bus that befriended me when she came out of Bloomingdales with a bag of Essie “Lady Godiva” nail polish. However, you may want to take their reports with a grain of salt. Nearly one-fifth (19 percent) of women confess to misleading others about how much they paid for a particular item. What is the adage” Never tell a man your age, weight or how much you paid.

 Statics for this post came from BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience.

Fashion By The Numbers

 

Back in the 1950’s there was a kind of craze for a new leisure activity called “Paint By Numbers”. Paint By Numbers was the hula hoop of the upwardly mobile. Its appeal was that it was cleverly marketed that every suburbanite could be a Rembrandt. One needn’t be an artist to indulge in artistic expression. Anyone could acquire taste, because it could be purchased as cheaply as jigsaw puzzle, or frozen TV dinner. Although many critics saw Paint By Numbers as a symbol of the mindless conformity gripping 1950’s America. Paint By Numbers had a peculiarly American virtue, it was democratic, and it invited people who had never before held a paintbrush to enter a world of art and creativity.

 Fine art at a fraction of the price…

 

 

Paint By Numbers was a simple process where great works of art were reduced to outlines (including shadows) and each outline would be given a number that corresponded to a small container of paint. It was a simplistic view of art. You could paint a replica of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, bucolic deer’s at a salt lick in the snow, or Washington Crossing the Delaware. You could paint the Last Supper with as few as twelve small jars of paint. If your taste ran less highbrow, you could whip out a sad clown by Emmett Kelly, ballerina’s on Pointe or a basset hound. There was something for everyone, something for every kind of décor. It didn’t matter if your home was early American or post-modern. President Eisenhower loved paint by numbers, and hung his masterpieces in the White House. Regardless of your level of taste, paint by numbers fall’s under the moniker of “kitch”. Kitch meaning something so mundane and trivial it could be found on a kitchen shelf, like novelty salt & pepper shakers.

I had several paint by number kits. I had a colonial drum and American bald eagle on plywood that came with stain to “antique” it, and I had Picasso’s The Card Players on black velveteen. (Note to readers, Picasso never painted on velveteen). I loved paint by numbers, because as a rebellious youth, I covertly painted with the wrong colors.

 Contrary to what was happening at the time, where contemporary art was mad splashes of color, whether your name was Pollock or Lichtenstein, Paint By Numbers was safe, modest and exemplified restraint.

While once beloved, Paint By numbers soon was dismissed as pedestrian, middle class, and juvenile. Paint By Numbers were viewed akin to outsider or found art, a kind of curiosity. What once hung over the mantle, buffet and bed stands with pride, now found their way to Good Will, garage sales, flea markets and the Salvation Army. An era of ridicule followed the lionized paint by numbers phenomenon. Then about thirty years later, like phoenix, Paint By Numbers rose again in prominence. The Smithsonian held a paint by number exhibit. Collectors like painter, Andy Warhol and designer, Todd Oldham collected them. Paint By Numbers reemerged as a desirable form of art.

 “When I am served tripe, I shall call it tripe!” Walter Kerr

Today’s fashion industry is altogether, and too often a fashion by numbers world. It too is reductive, simplistic and mass marketed to the public. 

Today’s color palate is as broad a spectrum as the colors in a Rembrandt Paint By Number set. Its uniformly sedate , dark and neutral. 

Fashion refuses to evolve, change, or respond to the culture. It is as out of place as a Paint By Numbers Whistlers Mother over your mantelpiece. Look at what you are wearing. Could you have worn it a year ago, five years? Ten years? Fifteen years? Probably, and you wouldn’t have looked out of place. Contrast this to any other period in history. Can you imagine how out of place someone in 1930 would have looked in 1945. How out of place someone in 1945 would have looked in 1960 or someone in 1960 would have looked in 1975. You get the jist. 

On the internet are scores of wonderful sites where you can create fashion by the numbers. It’s as cleverly marketed as paint by numbers. It’s a world where everyone can be a designer simply by clicking and dragging. Just pick this style sleeve from the drop down box, this waist line, this neckline, that skirt length and build your own look. One might be knived into thinking that’s how designers do it. Once the look is created there is a drop down box of materials and colors to choose from. Again the color palate is  limited to about twelve relatively safe choices, just enough so that you can paint the Sistine Chapel in Paint By Numbers.

Couture at discount…

Lest you think that designers are immune, the Red Carpet , the showrooms, salon shows and trunk and tent shows are also fashion by the numbers (granted, there are notable exceptions) If I were to lay out images from almost any designers recent shows say there 2010, 2005, 2000, 1999 and 1990 collections it might be a daunting task to identify each collection correctly, let alone place them in chronological order. Hair styles have changed with greater frequency.

That would not be true if I showed you Pierre Cardin’s, Yves Saint Laurent or Givenchy’s 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975 and 1980 collections. In fact, I’m quite certain that you would ace that exam.

A digit by any other number would add up as well…

 

Access to the global market has not created diversity. It has created a dumbed down culture of sameness. A stamped out template where uniforms pretending to be fashion is cobbled together, where fashion is marketed and packaged so that the consumer can digest it like fast food, quick, satisfying, and cheap.

No longer are collections known as The New Look or the Bohemian look. A product code has replaced a collection name. It is sold in small, medium and, God forbid large. It is vanity sized or standard only, standard meaning up to size 12 then it disappears like the horizon did when Columbus sailed the seas. Designers refuse to cut anything larger as it requires too much fabric and reduces their profit margin. Designers refuse to live in the world which we inhabit where the average female starts at a size 14. Clothing is sold in lots and grosses. It is shipped in container ships from overseas in twelve containers per freighter like barrels of oil. It’s a numbers game from beginning to end.

Gone are romance, style, passion and inspiration. They have been replaced by new values, cost, quantity and value. Its fashion by the numbers.

Rashomon Windows

In 1950, Akira Kurosawa won international acclaim for his film, Rashomon. The film is told through a series of flashbacks by four characters, a bandit named Tajomaru, a Samurai's wife, her husband who is a Samurai, (who has been murdered) and a nameless woodcutter. Each character recount the events of the Samurai’s murder one afternoon in a bamboo grove, as they now wait out a rainstorm outside of Kyoto, in a ruin identified only by a sign, “Rashomon“. Each recalls the horrendous event, and interprets it through their own perspective. The film was so indelible that the title Rashomon is now an idiom for whenever two our more people try to describe what they saw and how differently they interpret it.

Recently I had the opportunity to work on a Rashomon like project with Lauren Greis who I am acquainted with through her wonderful website www.fourthfloorwalkup.com Together, we along with our mutual colleague, Peter Tolin Baker of PTB Design Services www.petertolinbaker.com toured several retailers on Fifth Avenue. Ms. Greis and I each took a photograph of the same window, at the same time. Are the photographs identical? Absolutely not. If fact, they are in some instances as different as night and day. This begs the question if two Visual Merchandisers look at the same thing and see it so differently, how many other people walk by the same windows every day and respond to it differently too?

Today I am going to post our work together side by side, and give you my analysis. Conversely, Ms. Gries will place our work on her site, side by side with her analysis. So we encourage you to hop over to each site to see our unique perspectives and perhaps you will weigh in with your comments too. To enlarge the photos, please just double click on them and they will expand accordingly. I don't want you to miss any of the glorious details.

 
Copyright Lauren Greis 2011 © Copyright Ron Knoth 2011 ©

Bergdorf Goodman once again does everything right. Hand stenciled white seamless in a faux Mexican/Asian print supports beautiful print dresses. The execution of the windows are, as always, flawless. Ms. Greis focus on the mannequin composition which operates with different heights and hierarchy's by their placement in the foreground verses the background. I love the way Lauren so sensitively crops the bottom of her photograph with the mannequins hand resting on the bottom border. Ms. Greis' color values are far brighter, richer and true than mine. Ms. Greis captures a great documentary shot! I on the other hand move further away from the dresses and explore the rich architecture and reflection of the American flag which I think endow the window with patriotic attributes. Working to the further left of the window I capture the Schleppi mannequin  looking at the diamond print on the seamless. Its fascinating how each photograph captures a different spirit.

 
Copyright Lauren Greis 2011 © Copyright Ron Knoth 2011 ©

In a sudden reversal of fortunes, Ms. Greis and I have switched light values. Ms. Greis opts for a full body shot capturing the stappy shoes which help to root the mannequin. The detail of the faceted blue diamond is almost centered and the contrapposto (off the hip) pose is more evident in her photograph. I opt to focus on the Jim Morrison in reflective shades graphic tee that are strategically placed at the apex of the bosom. I also use the mannequin dressed in orange in the background to help delineate the mannequin in the front. Only Bergdorf''s could mix a floral with a graphic and beaded turquoise bag and make it the chicest thing on Fifth Avenue.

Copyright Lauren Greis 2011 © Copyright Ron Knoth 2011 ©

Ms. Greis focus' on the great visual props, blank scrapbooks in various sizes that are marked with blue grosgrain French tip ribbons. Lauren captures the simple detail and elevates it to art. I also love how Lauren so sensitively uses the platform in the center creating almost two separate images. Its beautifully divided 50/50. It's subtle, but demonstrates what a superb eye she has. Her photograph work far better than mine, I capture two ledges and I'm shooting from a right hand perspective it gives the ledges a slight distortion. I do have the benefit of the vivid red top with that great silhouette, but alas, I fear its too little, a little to late to compensate.

Copyright Lauren Greis 2011 © Copyright Ron Knoth 2011 ©

This is just eerie how Ms. Greis and I isolate the blue ribbon artfully puddled on the floor. Lauren opts for a lower vantage point where I shot from above. Look at how different our blues are. Both Lauren and I are using different cameras, and different shutter speeds.

Copyright Lauren Greis 2011 © Copyright Ron Knoth 2011 ©

Anthropologie is promoting the recycling of cork, as in wine bottle stoppers. The difference between what we each see is determined by how close we opt to get to the window. Antrhropolie never fails with its inventive use of mundane objects. These stalk like sculpters reminded me of asparagus with their heads severed off. I do like Ms. Greis's composition which captures the three size stalks. To me, Lauren's photographs give the window display the prominence and stature it actually has, therefore its more successful. My photograph is more about the details.

Copyright Lauren Greis 2011 © Copyright Ron Knoth 2011 ©

Everyone in the world has fallen in love with these Louis Vuitton windows which are installed at Saks Fifth Avenue. They've traveled globally. Again, the difference is primarily our closeness to the window. I think for me our photographs while different each convey the magic, the sweetness of dripping gold like honey and the Louis the 14th sun dial like bees radiating away. These are just exciting windows that endow the product with attributes that rival spiritual fulfilment. A handbag never looked so good!

 
Copyright Lauren Greis 2011 © Copyright Ron Knoth 2011 ©

More of the same, I love Lauren landscape version which illustrates how the bags seem to float like a cloud. The swarm of radiating bees are so beautiful that if Louis Vuitton sold this prop I be the first in line. I'd place it right over my mantleplace. Only one problem, I don't have a mantle or fireplace. Not to worry I'd just have to build a house with one to place it over. While I like Lauren's photograph, I like the serendipitous reflection of St. Patrick's almost commenting on the window display. The beautiful blue sky just adds to the whimsy.

Copyright Lauren Greis 2011 © Copyright Ron Knoth 2011 ©

In this Anthropologie window which is a homage to furniture components and furniture design, Lauren does something just fascinating, a sort of collage or totem of three different perspectives that perfectly capture the static movement of the window, designed to suggest tumbling. It's just brilliant! Ms. Greis once again pulls the proverbial rabbit out of the hat with her inventive eye. Its just sublime. I noticed the shape of the round red-orange stool that meets the sky and 30 Rockefeller to create a blue triangle. Its like a perfect button. Pop! The weathered wall almost read like misty clouds rising.

I had the best time with Lauren and Peter on Fifth Avenue, and despite what was a icy, miserably cold evening we had a lovely time. Our Rashomon window project is one I hope to revisit some day. I adore Lauren and Peter, two of the nicest and brightest people in our industry, and benefit, they are cute too!

All that being said, don't waste a moment check out what Lauren has to say at www.fouthfloorwalkup.com

9/11 and The Curiosity Shop

As we approach the ten-year anniversary…

Beauty can be found everywhere. Like love, it is often found in unexpected places. Inspiration, like beauty and love does exist, if only we will open our eyes and receive it.

Shortly after 9/11, there were dozens of these ad-hoc memorials to commemorate, to gather, to pause and reflect on our grief. In time, most of the memorials like our memory began to fade, subject to the elements like rain and sun they dissolved, they sort have disappeared, and as we returned to our lives, business went on as usual.

In a small section of Greenwich Village just across from the former St. Vincent’s Medical Center, there is a makeshift memorial for the victims of 9/11. It is on the intersection where 7th Avenue, 11th Street and Greenwich Avenue merge in a strange kind of knot, making crossing the street quite perplexing.

Unlike the other memorials, this one has not been dissembled. There is a strange kind of obstinacy, a determination attached to it that says to all, once from this spot you once could see the World Trade Center Towers. So much has changed! You could also see the Piercing Store that advertised, “piercing done without pain or with“.

Adjacent to the memorial once was one of those paint your own mug shops, who like so many people in New York wondered what they could do to respond. In exchange for a small donation, you could paint a tile or trivet with your personal message, and then once it was fired, it was tied to the cyclone fencing that runs around the periphery of a small private parking lot. In short, order the cyclone fencing was awash in bright colors with sweet and sad sentimental statements.

On 9/11, St. Vincent’s was cordoned off to receive the hundreds or perhaps thousands of victims that would be rushed up via ambulance from downtown. The mainstream press and media stood outside the ER like Swiss guards waiting for the first ambulances to arrive. Unfortunately, nobody came, well almost nobody. Beyond all our comprehension, we were still naive. It was unthinkable that nearly everyone would perish. The devastation of 9/11 eclipsed our nightmares.

Now almost ten years later we can see what people were thinking, how they felt, and what their hopes were. The tiles have aged, as have we. We have changed, 9/11 changed us, one thing has remained the same, beauty can be found everywhere. Like love, it is often found in unexpected places. Inspiration, like beauty and love does exist, if only we will open our eyes and receive it.

In Greenwich Village is a lovely patisserie called Tartine’s on the corner of West 11th Street and West 4th Street. It is impossible small, you will wait for a table, and once in you will be squeezed tighter that tuna in a can of spring water. Why will you do this? The food is great, the food is inexpensive, and maybe if you are lucky you might spot a local celebrity having the apple pancake or eggs benedict with roasted rosemary potatoes. I was dining at Tartine’s last week when I spotted a basement retailer, who I presume makes marionettes or puppets, but I am uncertain. There was no store signage and might just be am artists studio. Regardless, the items in the window were beautifully grotesque, odd and curious, there were bones, feathers, a stuffed rooster, old tools, a bowl of glass eyeballs, scraps of cloth, antique ceramics, a magnifying glass and all sorts of strange treasures. I was totally enamored.

It may not be a retail shop, but it was still a compelling window that invited me to investigate. I kept thinking this is the kind of place Tim Burton would shop. It was bizarre, but hauntingly beautiful. It was cluttered, but had a kind of random order that suggested a process. There was a kind of hierarchy of product and therefore a narrative. Anyway I just fell in love with it. I hope you will too.