NEW YORK, United States — Barneys New York is renowned for its inventive, often unusual approach to holiday windows, featuring everything from a Lady Gaga-designed "boudoir" — made entirely from artificial hair — to ice sculptures chiselled by Thom Browne-clad carvers.

This year, however, the specialty retailer is using the platform to make a weightier statement, commissioning LA-based artists the Haas Brothers to design a series of vignettes created with diversity and inclusivity in mind.

"Barneys is trying to convey something that is contradictory to the rhetoric that has been going on all over the world, and specifically this country," Daniella Vitale, Barneys chief executive, tells BoF. "We're making it less about Christmas or Hanukkah or any other holiday. We want the social message aspect of it to be much more than the theatrics of it."

It may be social commentary with a political bent, but the Haas' also managed to add a fantastical layer to the their scenes, which feature a cast of furry, silver and papier-mâché sculpted characters, from a rainbow zebra (a call for LGBTQ inclusivity) to 3-D snakes slithering under the words "Snake Love Not War." In fact, each window and character features one such "Haas Rule," including "Sunbody Loves You," "Cactus What You Preach" and “Bee Yourself.”

Barneys holiday window, by the Haas Brothers | Source: Courtesy

"There's a positivity that the HAAS Brothers have brought to the windows," says creative director Matthew Mazzucca, who was elevated to the role in March 2017 after the departure of industry veteran Dennis Freedman. "They're really simplistic and childlike, they offer an escapism — even if they are very relevant to politics in America."

The message will also be represented on the floors of the retailer’s Madison Avenue flagship, with each floor assigned a "Haas Rule." For instance, the “Boulder and Wiser” space features a Haas-designed rock garden, its psychedelic colours a match made for Instagram selfies.

The idea is to take the outdoors experience — which encourages window shopping but not necessarily actual shopping — and bring it indoors, closer to the cash register. “We’re being much more cohesive in terms of how we execute initiatives,” says Vitale of the new approach. “That, ultimately we hope, drives sales. We want people to come and look at the windows … but you have [make them] want more.”

While Madison Avenue will serve as the project’s epicentre, Barneys will also roll out the holiday window concept across its 14 US stores — including those in Beverly Hills and its downtown Manhattan outpost — for the first time in its history.

The initiative marks the beginning of a crucial period for Barneys, which, like many multi-brand retailers in the US, has been busy fighting headwinds that include a slowdown in tourism following the November 2016 election of President Donald Trump. The number of tourists visiting the US was down by almost 700,000 in the first quarter of 2017, according to figures released by the US Department of Commerce. Sales of luxury goods are projected to increase 2 percent in 2017, while Europe and Asia will be up 6 percent from a year earlier, according to a recent report from Bain & Co.

Vitale, however, is optimistic, as recent projects have ushered new customers through the doors. Of the customers who made purchases at thedrop@barneys — an experiential retail event held in partnership with streetwear publication Highsnobiety — 20 percent were new to Barneys. “We went through a very difficult election here in the US and there was a fallout from that in the beginning of the year when people were not quite feeling themselves and were not motivated to shop,” she says. “But we’re seeing an improved second half and we expect the fourth quarter to be good.”

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