This week Barneys New York released its much-anticipated spring advertising campaign, “Backstage.” Featuring bold black-and-white images taken backstage at the world’s most prestigious fashion shows in New York, London, Milan, and Paris – including Lanvin, Balenciaga, Rick Owens, and Dries van Noten – the campaign images capture the fashion world at its most electrifying.
“Barneys has always been a fashion authority,” said Mark Lee, CEO of Barneys New York. “The Backstage campaign lets the viewer know that we are uniquely positioned to offer our customer a raw interpretation of fashion artistry in its most uncompromising terms. We are willing to cut through the hype to see fashion in black and white.”
The official news from Barneys is below:
Barneys New York, the luxury specialty retailer, announces its “Backstage” Spring 2011 campaign. The campaign features unique black and white images taken backstage at the world’s most prestigious fashion shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Some of the celebrated photographers whose work is featured in the campaign include Nan Goldin, William Klein, Roxanne Lowit, Raymond Meier, Collier Schorr, Stephane Sednaoui and Juergen Teller. Additionally, Barneys New York commissioned backstage images from a select group of young and emerging photographers including Anna Bauer, JH Engstrom, Jason Lloyd Evans, Robert Fairer, Boo George, Nick Haymes, Leigh Ledare and Andrea Spotorno.
The “Backstage” campaign owes much to William Klein, the legendary American photographer and filmmaker based in Paris, who pioneered the idea of the backstage photo in the 1950s. At the time, his work was considered revolutionary, and he is known for creating some of the most iconic and lasting images in fashion. During Paris fashion week last September, Mr. Klein shot backstage for Barneys New York at collections including, among others, Givenchy, Lanvin, Nina Ricci and Rochas.
“It was important to me the campaign provided an intimate view of fashion through simple images, using the designer’s own words so the viewer was able to feel a sense of discovery which is true to Barneys core DNA, ” said Mark Lee, CEO of Barneys New York.
The campaign also references various iconic advertisements from the archives of Barneys New York. In a revolutionary 1980s campaign, legendary photographer Herb Ritts shot graphic black and white images of supermodels Naomi Campbell and Stephanie Seymour. In the 1990s, photographer Steven Meisel shot supermodel Linda Evangelista in a series of striking black and white newspaper-style advertisements.
Due to the cinematic nature of the backstage experience, the photographs reveal the collections in their purest form: as the designers intended them. Each photograph offers an original insight into the world of celebrated fashion houses including, among others, Celine, Fendi, Jil Sander, L’Wren Scott, Proenza Schouler and The Row. In addition, selected designers are quoted in describing what the backstage experience means to them. The campaign features the words of Dries van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, and Junya Watanabe, among others.
The black and white theme will be carried across all Barneys channels including Co-op for several weeks of the Spring 2011 season. The first print ads will break in major national newspapers on February 6th and online media on February 10th. National print ads will appear in March issues of select fashion and lifestyle magazines. Barneys has deployed QR codes into both traditional and interactive media to add another dimension to the backstage experience. The QR code will take users directly to a content-rich experience on the Barneys website.
To coincide with the campaign launch, Barneys New York has launched “The Window,” an editorial microsite that will live on the company’s ecommerce site and can be accessed at barneys.com/thewindow. Its content includes the latest Barneys New York news, product showcases, in-depth profiles of designers, lush visuals including video and slideshows, and guest contributors. The homepage of Barneys.com will also change to black and white, as will all emails – albeit temporarily – sent from the website.
Additionally, the Barneys New York windows will showcase the simple black and white images. With the introduction of the “Backstage” campaign, the awnings of the Madison Avenue flagship mirror the campaign with a recent make-over to chic black and white, aligning with the iconic Barneys New York shopping bag. The gallery-like interiors of the store will also be enhanced by beautiful displays of prints taken from the campaign. At Fred’s, Barney’s New York’s celebrated restaurant, the normally red menus will be black and diners will be treated to mini black-and-white cookies.