You don't need much to show Azzedine Alaïa's pieces—sophisticated, elegant in a modern way, and meticulously constructed—so a streamlined display makes sense. The pointed-necked, -armed and -legged mannequins in the Alaïa windows at Barneys have a no nonsense appeal, but also have an insect-inspired vibe. Like grasshoppers that have found their spot for the night. The disembodied heads are used to prop up shoes and handbags, but do they actually fit on the bodies? Also, are we crazy, or does Alaïa only have a MySpace page? [RackedWire]
Label:Barneys New York Deal: 40% off select men's, women's and kids apparel, shoes , accessories, and gifts for the home When/Where:Through Wednesday, May 28, online and in-store
3:24pm: We have intel from a Curbed colleague currently at Barneys: "It's busy. Already sold out of the leopard print dress. A lot of the cuter dresses only have L and XL left." Well, the pleasantness and loads of merch couldn't last forever. [RackedWire]
Photos via Fashion Intelligentsia
Fashion Intelligentsia sent us over some pics from its morning jaunt to Barneys to check out the Rogan for Target collection. The blog post confirmed our earlier coverage "There was a decent sized (20) group of girls/ladies but no one was elbowing their way to a rack full of dresses. In fact, unlike Kate Moss for Top Shop at Barneys, there seemed to be many items to go around." Further, via email: "We were there at 10 am, and stayed until 11:30. The clothes were lovely, and even though most fitting rooms were full, all the shoppers were quite civil. I also heard a lot of people say the pieces ran one size smaller than usual."
· We came, we saw: Rogan for Target at Barneys (BH) [Fashion Intelligentsia]
· A Few Minutes Later... [Racked]
· Live at Barneys, Rogan for Target Quiet [Racked]
· Party (S)hopping Madness: Rogan for Target at Barneys Preview! [Racked]
Rogan x Target @ Barneys: "When doors opened about 15 girls rushed in and started ripping through racks. Workers quickly discouraged photography. They have about twenty rolling racks of stuff, mostly black white and grey and even some swim suits." [RackedWire]
From our Racked correspondent: "So I'm at Barneys and no one is here. I snuck into the store via elevator but security told me to wait outside till 10. If there is going to be any type of hoopla it hasn't started yet." [RackedWire]
So, we wondered, was the Rogan for Target preview/pre-sale event at Barneys in Beverly Hills going to be crazy as the event in NYC? The answer is, definitively, yes. Last night, from 6pm-8pm, celebs, press, models, designers (including collection designer Rogan Gregory) and many, many regular folks came, they shopped, they drank lots of champagne, which probably made them shop more. Whitney Port looked like she was on a shopping mission; Tracee Ellis Ross was actually at the register paying for stuff; Becki Newton was enamored by some very adorable separates; Mena Suvari came wearing the line. Tons of other famous peeps were there, too: Rachel Bilson, Joy Bryant, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman, Gabrielle Union, Vanessa Marcil and others. And, on a side note, Kelis (of "Milkshake" fame) is really adorable and stylish.
From rack to rack—there were at least half a dozen square clusters of them—you could hear people discussing: The overwhelming verdict was that this is the best quality and overall best collection of the Target designer collabs—the linen dresses and tops, a black shorts jumper, floaty tanks and tops, itty-bitty animal print bikinis and cut-out one-pieces were all exiting via canvas Rogan for Target shopping bags. A rack would nearly empty but for L's and XL's, but then be quickly restocked. And the thing was, it was like that the entire time. The sales staff at the register were working double time. The collection drops to the public at 10am at Barneys and we'll have to see how that goes.
· NYC Verdict In: People Going Nuts for Rogan for Target at Barneys! [Racked]
· Rogan for Target Insanity at Barneys Press Preview [Racked]
The verdict is that Rogan for Target "is the best Go International collection we've seen yet," per sister site Racked NYC. Even the press preview was crazy with people shopping, rather than hanging out, sipping champagne/cocktails: "the whole thing resembled a sample sale: it was hot and sweaty, women were stripping down to their undies (At Barneys! On Madison Avenue!) and everyone was grabbing frantically at the clothes."
And now it's available to the public in NYC (hitting Barneys in LA May 15 for the press preview and available to the public May 16-18) and the madness has begun. Just before opening at 9:58am in NYC, a line had formed despite the rain, and upon opening at 10:09am: "It's all going to be gone in a matter of hours, at best. Almost no smalls left anywhere. Size 13 is the smallest left in the dresses; tops, large. People are flocking, swarming. The beginners in the crowd are completely shell shocked. Get react from the crowd: 'There appears to be a high school field trip here.'" By 10:35 AM: "The stuff is going, going...But there are rumors that some reserve stock may in fact still be in the back. Biggest early sellers: the stripe-y tank, the silk dresses and the swimsuits." Get ready for May 16 LA Rogan for Target debut!
· Live Early Report: Rogan for Target at Barneys Debuts [Racked]
· Rogan for Target Insanity at Barneys Press Preview [Racked]
· Rogan for Target at Barneys, Ups Target's Designer Exclusivity [Racked]
Take this as your last reminder that Christian Louboutin will be at Barneys Beverly Hills Wednesday, May 7, from 2pm-6pm. From the invite: "Meet Christian Louboutin and get first dibs on the new fall collection! Monsieur Louboutin will be available to autograph your spring purchases." Read: Get ready to spend a pretty penny for that autograph and a significant wait in line. [Racked Inbox]
This is a two-fold Christian Louboutin alert. First, mark your calendar for May 7 when the famed shoe designer will make his next appearance at Barneys in Beverly Hills. Second, per Women's Wear Daily, look out for the Barneys window, where creative director Simon Doonan has blown up Louboutin's sketches: "when Louboutin sent gouache sketches for the invitation to his personal appearances at Barneys, Doonan went gaga. He had the sketches blown up and will put them in the windows of the New York and Beverly Hills stores starting today." [WWD, subscription req]
Just when things started to feel a bit ho-hum on the Target designer front, Barneys New York has stepped in to up the exclusivity ante with the eco-minded Rogan for Target collection (which will hit stores May 18) by debuting the line at Barneys in NYC and Beverly Hills prior to the Target launch. Per Fashion Wire Daily, "The collection, which marks the first time Barneys has carried Target merchandise, will arrive in New York and Los Angeles on May 8 and 15, respectively, and will be carried on the Co-op floor. The pieces will only be in stock for five days-after that, shoppers will have to wait for the mass debut." Also noting, "Gregory's relationship with Barneys is well-documented, the designer having helped establish the Loomstate for Barneys Green collection." Click through to see the full collection, which looks like one of the best Target designer collabs so far.
· Target at Barneys New York: A preview of Rogan Gregory's Go International designs planned [FWD]
Just this past Monday, Barneys began taking t-shirt donations for eco-label Loomstate to reconstruct and then sell at Barneys during the holiday season—requisite proceeds going to environmental org 1% for the Planet. Besides a clean conscience, you also get 20% off at Barneys for 15 days this month. We dipped into the Barneys CO-OP at The Grove to see how the donations were going; thus far, about half a bin was full of t-shirts. Doesn't seem too bad for two days in. What was interesting was many of the shirts visible looked like they'd never even been worn. That said, 20% off at Barneys is definitely worth more than a brand spanking new t-shirt (as long as you didn't buy it there).
· RackedWire: Loomstate and Barneys Recycle Tees, Paperless ReadyMade Mag [Racked]
Liz Goldwyn is quite busy of late, having just curated a collection of vintage sweater clips and head pieces for Opening ceremony and now landing her own collection in Barneys. From Decades owner Cameron Silver's blog: "Author, filmmaker, and dear friend of Decades Liz Goldwyn has been producing fabulous fashion jewelry for some time. Now, we're pleased to announce that her creations are available at Barneys New York in Beverly Hills, California! We've featured two great necklaces below, just to whet your appetite." There's a vintage element to her necklaces as well—shown here, a cream sandstone on antique links circle chain. No pricing, but let's take a wild guess and say somewhere in the range of very expensive. [Decades Blog]
He may be an institution on the NYC fashion scene, but Barneys Creative Director Simon Doonan is making the rounds with his latest book, Eccentric Glamour, in stores April 8. Specifically, Doonan will be at Barneys New York in Beverly Hills, Thursday, April 17 from 5pm-7pm to sign and sell books. From publisher Simon and Schuster: "Simon Doonan offers a defense against the tidal wave of slutty dressing and porno-chic which has been engulfing us since the arrival of Paris Hilton, Anna Nicole Smith, may she rest in peace, and Tara Reid... While the typical TV boobs 'n' botox make-overs force everywoman to look the same—see The Real Housewives of Orange County—the transformations which he strives to provoke in this book are the very opposite. [Racked Inbox]
Can get get you some RackedWire? Herein, two bits of national news coming in on the transom.
NATIONAL— For those who have wondered what Goodwill Industries is doing for them when they leave off their ratty old tees (besides the tax write-off), Barneys and upmarket eco-label Loomstate might have just the alternative. Per Fashionista, Beginning April 13, all Barneys locations will be taking T-shirt donations for Loomstate to re-purpose into suitably cool reincarnations and sell exclusively at the department store during the holiday season, with proceeds going to 1% for the Planet. Those who donate get 20% off Loomstate for 15 days in April. [Fashionista]
NATIONAL— DIY mag ReadyMade has made its April/May Green Design Issue available online, and, at least for the first issue, it's free. It looks like henceforth there will be some sort of monetary transaction involved, as the ReadyMade Blog mentions specifically that the "first virtual installment is completely free." Thankfully, you don't have to navigate the mag page-by-page, but can do so via a drop-down table of contents, or view the entire issue at once and then click on a page. The online edition also makes it easier to do-it-yourself with links to online exclusives. [ReadyMade Blog]
Yes, it is ridiculous to spend $325 for a two-tone shift dress for a pre-schooler, but there is an undeniable cuteness to Kid by Phillip Lim, the designer's new line for the training-wheel set, debuting at Barneys New York. Though, the entire line isn't all that crazily expensive, ranging from $60 for a happy face tee, $115 for a trench skirt and $182 for a cropped box jacket. OK, that's still very expensive, but those spending $500-plus for little Suzy's outfit hopefully have the money to spare. The launch party (think juice boxes and cookies) is in NYC tomorrow, but the line is available online now.
· Barneys Breaks Out the Juice Boxes for Phillip Lim Launch [Racked]
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Take this as your last reminder that Christian Louboutin will be at Barneys Beverly Hills Wednesday, May 7, from 2pm-6pm. From the invite: "Meet Christian Louboutin and get first dibs on the new fall collection! Monsieur Louboutin will be available to autograph your spring purchases." Read: Get ready to spend a pretty penny for that autograph and a significant wait in line. [Racked Inbox]
He may be an institution on the NYC fashion scene, but Barneys Creative Director Simon Doonan is making the rounds with his latest book, Eccentric Glamour, 
NATIONAL— DIY mag ReadyMade has made its April/May Green Design Issue available 
