Over the upcoming days and weeks I will be posting pictures from all the various Christmas activities that take place around the city. Of course I will post the famous Christmas Store Window Displays, but also pictures of the various major Christmas Trees, Santa Rescue, Santacon (convention), Carolings, Gingerbread Houses, Macy's Santaland, Train Shows, Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, Nutcracker and 6th Ave. (Ave. of the Americas) Mega Decorations and videos of The Big Apple Chorus South Street Seaport Singing Christmas Tree and the six Grand Central Station Laser Shows. As much as time (and my camera and camcorder batteries) allow I will try to provide for you a one stop virtual visit to Christmas in New York. I JUST LOVE NEW YORK CITY, ESPECIALLY AT CHRISTMAS TIME, and I hope that love comes through in my pictures.
I have been taking NYC Holiday Window Display photos since 2004 and follow the same basic order, starting from Uptown and traveling Downtown. About.com has a really nice Christmas Windows Walking Tour Map that I think is good for people who don't know the area well. Just click on the image below to go to their informative article.
Given budgetary constraints, certain sites along the walk have changed. One of those changes is that The Central Park Arsenal is no longer lit up at night. I miss the lights.
(This picture is from 2008.)
Right down the block from The Arsenal is Barneys New York.
(The logo and the daytime exterior photo are not my photos. The logo is from Barney's website and the exterior photo is from the Bridge and Tunnel Club.)
Of all the Christmas Display Windows, Barneys is usually my least favorite because I am more so a traditional type of Christmas gal. Whether or not they are my favorite though, I still do GREATLY admire the creativity that goes into their displays because they are always UNIQUE and this year's set are no different!
The overall theme of Barneys' windows are designed by their renowned creative director Simon Doonan. (Photo is by Joe Gaffney.)
The first Barneys windows that one encounters, if one is walking from 5th Avenue, is a set of two small, relatively dark, windows. Their theme is Give a Good Gift.
Despite the theme of those windows, Barney's overall theme this year is "Have a Foodie Holiday." I will provide more info about the theme below.
Their next window display has become a staple over the years. As they annually do, one window is always dedicated to art that is created by students. The children's artworks are eventually sold and the proceeds benefit their school.
It is when one turns the corner and sees their Madison Avenue entrance that one sees their official 2010 theme, "Have a Foodie Holiday." The displays represent a collaboration between Barneys and The Food Network, The Cooking Channel, and illy Caffè.
According to PR Newswire,
* Barneys.com will present original content during the holidays including an enhanced digital version of the holiday catalogue and special videos, including interviews of celebrity chefs by Simon Doonan. (This part added by me. You can find that material HERE.)
* Barneys New York's philanthropic efforts for "Have a Foodie Holiday" will benefit the Food Bank For New York City, one of the country's largest food banks. In addition to its own contribution, Barneys has enlisted many of its designers to make donations to Food Bank For New York City. Barneys New York will also be supporting Food Bank For New York City's text-to-donate campaign during the holidays. For more information on Food Bank For New York City please visit www.foodbanknyc.org.
-- Source Link.
The theme is divided into four windows. The first three of which enlisted the WONDERFUL Talent of Linda Lomax, who created AMAZING caricatures of famous chefs. (The pics below are from Ms. Lomax's site. Please click on the first one to go to her site and see her AMAZING works of art and then click on the second one to directly go to her post about creating the caricatures.)
I am SO NOT a person who is into cooking, so, accept of a few of them, I really didn't know who most of the people are, but that didn't at all stop me from REALLY liking Ms. Lomax's creations!
In addition to the main people highlighted in the windows, each window is surrounded by garland that is strewn with pots and pans that have caricatures of other famous culinary artists. The garland is not as well lit as the main sections of the windows, but nevertheless I tried to get pictures of all the caricatures. I apologize up front that those pics are not that great. Sorry. According to PR Newswire, here is a complete list of all the culinary professionals that were included in Barneys' displays.
Grant Achatz, Jody Adams, Ferran Adria, Sunny Anderson, Jose Andres, Donatella Arpaia, Dan Barber, Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali, James Beard, Michelle Bernstein, John Besh, April Bloomfield, Daniel Boulud, Anthony Bourdain, Jimmy Bradley, Margaret Braun, Anne Burrell, Andrew Carmellini, Julia Child, Melissa Clark, Tom Colicchio, Scott Conant, Cat Cora, Dana Cowin, Paula Deen, Alain Ducasse, Wylie Dufresne, Todd English, Barbara Fairchild, Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay, Ina Garten, Duff Goldman, Alex Guarnaschelli, Madhur Jaffrey, Thomas Keller, Gabriel Kreuther, Emeril Lagasse, Adam Perry Lang, Nigella Lawson, Sandra Lee, Anita Lo, Nobu Matsuhisa, Masaharu Morimoto, Jamie Oliver, Francois Payard, Jacques Pepin, Colette Peters, Alfred Portale, Wolfgang Puck, Rachael Ray, Ruth Reichl, Eric Ripert, Missy Robbins, Claire Robinson, Marcus Samuelsson, Gail Simmons, Martha Stewart, Mark Strausman, Michael Symon, Jacques Torres, Laurent Tourondel, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jonathan Waxman, Sylvia Weinstock, and Michael White.
-- Source Link.
The first window highlights Culinary Innovators and Trailblazers and is titled Revolutionary Stew.
The second window is titled The Bad Boys.
The third window is titled The Gals. I think it should have been more aptly named "The Gals Plus One." (I don't understand why they are all wearing Snuggies. Maybe one of the women really likes Snuggies and speaks about them on her show? If you can explain it, I would greatly appreciate it.
)
(I apologize that this one is not a true close-up shot. I was getting so cold that I started to rush and I forgot to take it.)
The fourth window was completely designed by Simon Doonan and it is titled Ms. Illy.
Here is what illy's News had to say about Ms. Illy.
illy Takes Whimsical Star Turn in Barneys New York Holiday Windows
Meet Miss Illy, Simon Doonan’s coffee-fueled vision in recycled tin; Culture, coffee, cuisine and Christmas unite in iconic retailer’s holiday showcase
Pleated, pierced and crimped together just so, here comes the planet’s newest diva: Miss Illy, famed Barneys New York creative director Simon Doonan’s singular vision in illy espresso tins and foil, debuted November 16 in the Barneys New York holiday windows. Fresh and full-bodied as the primo Arabica she once so lovingly nurtured (her parts all fashionably recycled), Ms. Illy is the can’t-miss vixen centerpiece of the iconic retailer’s Madison Avenue flagship windows, themed “Have a Foodie Holiday” for 2010.
While Ms. Illy’s proportions are entirely today -- her look somewhat tomorrow – her picture- windowed home’s measurements conjure yesterday’s Italian bombshell. 300 three-kilo illy tins, 250 foil bags (former home to illy’s single-serve iperEspresso capsules) and 250 8.8-oz. illy cans will turn heads clear to Fifth Avenue. And does she ever accessorize, pulling off an espresso machine headpiece (ahem, illy’s Francis Francis X1 iperEspresso machine), a coffee scoop-turned earring and a garland fashioned from 300 paper cups.
Doonan’s playful, masterful Miss Illy may be new to the world and to Barneys New York holiday windows, but she’s steeped in illy’s longstanding relationship with culture and collaborations with contemporary artists. Jeff Koons, Marina Abramovic, Julian Schnabel and the late Robert Rauschenberg are among modern masters who contributed original designs for the illy collection of espresso cups, dating to 1992, and now the world’s largest assembly of single-item art collectibles. James Rosenquist, one of pop art’s chief protagonists, designed illy’s now iconic white-on-red square logo.
“This collaboration is entirely natural for illy. The coffee experience is about the best taste, to be sure. But it is also about beauty – about enjoying with all five senses, fueling mind and spirit. Coffee has long been a protagonist for important ideas and fine art, it is well documented, going back hundreds of years to the world’s first coffee houses,” said Andrea Illy, Chairman and Chief Executive of illycaffè. “Simon has found an entirely new and otherwise unimaginable way to demonstrate this, certain to delight and inspire all who see his stunning, inventive work.”
“Think of Miss Illy as the ultimate exercise in creative recycling,” said Doonan. "One look, and you see she’s quite the contemporary gal, so her recycled content goes right along with her modernity. Her very idea and life quite literally sprang from others before her. So while this is great fun, with art, with coffee, we are serious about the multi-use message, about sustainability, as has been illy, long before it came into fashion.”
Miss Illy’s street-level admirers are invited to visit the Barneys New York Madison Avenue flagship’s ninth floor, where through December 31, illy will delight Barneys guests with complimentary espresso and cappuccino -- the world’s finest, prepared in the authentic Italian style by top baristas.
-- Source Link.
And, here is an interview with Mr. Doonan about Ms. Illy.
Weren't those displays GREAT!?!
My next stop was Bloomingdale's. Those pictures will be in my next post. As I started to walk over I saw this torn advertisement on the ground and liked what it said, though I have no idea if the product is any good. Lol!
Remember in the beginning I said that budget cuts have led to some changes? Well, as I was walking over to Bloomingdale's I saw one more change. In midtown, Park Avenue used to nightly light up with a row of lit Christmas trees that used to go on for several blocks. I don't actually know if they are no longer lit up in order to save money or if some people complained about there only being Christmas trees and no other Holiday symbols, but either way I miss the lit trees.
(This picture is from 2008.)
HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PICS!!
BYE FOR NOW!
