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Photos: Barneys New York holiday window displays

November 20, 2013

The "Empire State" meets state-of-the-art display technology from Christie for a fully immersive visitor experience this holiday season at the Barneys New York flagship store in Manhattan. Inspired by music icon and native New Yorker Shawn "Jay Z" Carter, visual artist Joanie Lemercier and Barneys' creative director Dennis Freedman, "A New York Holiday" is a series of unique windows facing Madison Avenue and an interactive in-store gallery brought to life by the latest generation of Christie digital display technologies.
 
"A New York Holiday" premieres today, benefiting the Shawn Carter Foundation, a New York-based charity that awards post-secondary scholarships to students facing socio-economic hardships.
 
The third floor of the retailer's Madison Avenue flagship has been transformed into the BNY SCC Gallery, an immersive 1,200-square-foot space with a seamless 360-degree projection that uses projection mapping, exclusive content, lights, and movement to transport customers into the world of New York. A 70-foot long "hall" with floor projection will guide visitors from the third floor elevator to the gallery. The BNY SCC Gallery Space will showcase limited edition products designed by Mr. Carter in collaboration with various designers which will be available for purchase.
 
Floating City

The retailer's iconic Madison Avenue windows will mesmerize passersby and customers with moving content that demonstrates how light and shadow are experienced in New York City, incorporating the theme colors of black, white and gold. Among the highlights are a "floating city" projected onto a 16-foot-tall "rock" wall, which houses the viewing area for the projection mapped experience, and includes twinkling stars in a night sky and a slow-moving sunrise revealing the shimmering floating city — enhanced by a visual program that incorporates architectural language, changing geographical landscapes and climate (snow, rain) — all through dazzling 3D mapping technology. 
 
Mirrors, Icicles and 3D lights

A large, abstract hanging resembling a rock or icicle formation will be covered in thousands of fragmented mirrors. With Christie projection mapping washing light over the formation to create a light show on the object itself, it will be reflected into the room as well as onto the window and finally the street. 
 
Among the technologies used will be the Christie HD14K-M projector, Christie LW720, Christie LWU420, and Christie HD flat panel displays, including the new Christie WeatherAll flat panel.

A traditional favorite during the holidays will have a modern new twist, with a window housing the "BNY NYC Sleigh Ride" featuring a rotating cast of improvizational performers from Upright Citizens Brigade, outfitted in modern Santa costumes, who will take children on a virtual sleigh ride through an abstracted New York City. Through the use of experiential screens, the occupants will feel like they are up in the air and flying through New York. Christie WeatherAll flat panels on the outside of the window will show images of the children and Santa as they take the sleigh ride.
 
"New York is home to some of the most technologically sophisticated customers in the world, and the holidays are an especially competitive time for retailers to capture their attention and bring them into their stores," said Sean James, vice president of Christie's managed services. "We are pleased to again be part of Barneys New York's holiday display campaign, both in New York and other flagship locations across the country. Through visual technology and collaboration, Christie helped bring the creative vision to life."  
 
Christie display technologies will be featured in select Barneys regional flagship locations in Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston, where Christie HD flat panels will greet visitors and provide content to highlight the Shawn "Jay Z" Carter collection within that store.
 
Barneys New York is a luxury specialty retailer renowned for having the most discerning edit from the world's top designers, including women's and men's ready-to-wear, accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and gifts for the home. Founded as a men's retailer in 1923 in downtown Manhattan, it became an international arbiter of high style for both women and men in the 1970s, renowned for discovering and developing new and innovative design talent. Today, Barneys New York operates flagship stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz., along with a preeminent luxury online store, Barneys.com, and 25 other stores and outlets across the United States. 

Read more about retail merchandising. Photos by Tom Sibley.