In a break from the usual designer homage that occurs during New York Fashion Week, the windows at Bergdorf Goodman put the spotlight of its crew of associates and personal shoppers, collectively regarded as “BG style experts.”
“It’s unprecedented. We’ve never done this before,” said Joshua Schulman, the president of Bergdorf Goodman and NMG International of the Neiman Marcus Group. “We focus a lot on the product in the store, on communications, on the physical space like our new main floor. But this season we wanted to focus on one of or our most important assets, our people. We have this incredible cast of characters, each with their own personal style and ability to curate from multiple designers and multiple resources.”
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Schulman said “the celebration of the talent we have in the building” is depicted in the Fifth Avenue windows of the Bergdorf Goodman women’s and men’s stores, and naturally doesn’t ignore fashion and designers, with illustrations of the Bergdorf style experts themselves, alongside their spring fashion selections, reflecting their individual style and preferences. The campaign extends to inside the stores with pop-ups, on bg.com, in the spring issue of Bergdorf Goodman Magazine, in print and digital advertising, along with all Bergdorf Goodman social platforms via #BGStyleExperts. Fifteen women’s store associates and 10 men’s store associates are involved in the BG Style Experts campaign, which lasts until Feb. 27.
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“The genesis for this idea came from the observation that a lot of style experts were actually being chronicled in social media and developing their own Instagram profiles,” Schulman said.
Bergdorf’s also hopes that passersby will check out the windows, which will be up for about a month, and like what they see and ultimately choose to have a BG style expert help them shop. “They’re definitely the heroes this time,” Schulman said of those spotlighted in the versions. “Definitely, they have a pretty big range. In the men’s store, one of the associates has a very modern tailored style; another associate is all about streetwear. These people have always been the fashion heroes for their clients, but we haven’t been as overt in celebrating them as style ambassadors. Last year, we had Gucci in the windows. This year, we have our team in the windows.”