NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with nyc occasions Chief Fashion Critic Vanessa Friedman in regards to the closing of Barneys shops

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Barneys, the true luxury division string, could see its doorways closed once and for all. Since filing for bankruptcy, Barneys shops were shutting through the nation, and, in a further blow, its many iconic storefront can also be in peril. The Barneys ny on Madison Avenue in Manhattan had been a tourist spot and a popular when it comes to ladies in HBO’s “Intercourse And the populous city.”

(SOUNDBITE OF TV PROGRAM, “SEX ADDITIONALLY THE CITY”)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) So which region can you vote in?

SARAH JESSICA PARKER: (As Carrie Bradshaw) Whichever a person is near Barneys.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Fashion’s cool children and performers had been frequently showcased waiting for you occasions. It defined luxury for the generation. Vanessa Friedman is the principle fashion critic for The nyc circumstances, and I am joined by her now. Welcome.

VANESSA FRIEDMAN: sweet to speak with you.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Barneys is sort of woven in to the material of the latest York in a manner that i believe few other outlets that are retail. We already pointed out “Intercourse therefore the City,” but there are more films and television shows, particularly “Will & Grace,” in which the character, Jack, finished up getting a task at Barneys.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV PROGRAM, “WILL & GRACE”)

SEAN HAYES: (As Jack McFarland) Where are the cashmere V-neck sweaters? Regarding beautiful mexican brides for marriage the floor that is second. And exactly how do I’m sure? Because i acquired a working job at Barneys.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: the facts in regards to the store that managed to get the main zeitgeist by doing so?

FRIEDMAN: As soon as the Barneys on Madison Avenue started, it absolutely was such as the ultimate sign of the certain form of ny design at that time, that was, you understand, type of cutting-edge, type of elitist, type of inaccessible but additionally profoundly glamorous and extremely aspirational to everyone.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Let’s speak about Barneys nyc on Madison Avenue for many who might not have been here simply because they’re afraid which they may already have to cover the values. It really is a touchstone that is cultural right? That which was it want to move inside?

FRIEDMAN: It broke all of the guidelines of retail once they first created it. Barneys ended up being one of the primary shops to essentially behave just like a specialty boutique, to have a tremendously particular standpoint, making it a kind of destination you found feel just like you had been area of the cool audience. And they made it happen extremely efficiently.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Just What Exactly took place?

FRIEDMAN: you understand, times change. Customer tastes change. And if stores do not carry on with with this, chances are they begin becoming – they begin to feel unimportant, you understand? Barneys on Madison ended up being an exceptional emporium, however it is additionally a really high priced emporium. It really forced the family into bankruptcy. And, you realize, for the reason that procedure, it lost a complete great deal of its character, also it destroyed plenty of just exactly what caused it to be unique. And that, combined with a few extremely bad property discounts, led us to where we have been today.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: just What perform some those who would go shopping at Barneys want now?

FRIEDMAN: Well, i do believe that’s the question that is magic any merchant, you understand? exactly What Barneys did, which extremely few stores now do, is rather of taking a look at whatever they had offered the growing season before and saying, OK, you understand, blackjack caps had been actually popular, particularly when that they had a type of peplum in the bottom. Therefore we’re likely to have more of the. They stated, so what can we accomplish that’s various? They believed in leading in place of after the consumer. And it suggested which you had been constantly astonished, that you mayn’t second-guess them, you couldn’t anticipate that which you had been likely to get. And that managed to get exciting. In addition made it dangerous.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So rest in comfort, Barneys.

FRIEDMAN: i am hoping perhaps perhaps perhaps not.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Did you enjoy it?

FRIEDMAN: we familiar with almost go to Barneys as research, you understand? I would personally head to Barneys to see just what they certainly were purchasing, to see just what developers that they had found, to observe how they place things together, you understand? One of the actually interesting things if they first launched on Madison ended up being I think it was Kazuko in the front, you know that they had jewelry by? at that time but still now, most retail wisdom states you place small leather-based goods within the front for the reason that it could be the form of entry way to many buying, you understand? They place this type of strange, esoteric expensive precious jewelry here. Plus it had been just as much a statement of whom these people were as one thing to get. Also it had been like if you obtain this, you are unique. You are smart. You recognize one thing. You have a kind that is different of value system. And thus, you realize, we head to learn, like, what that value system meant. And I also shall miss that.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: that has been ny days chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman. Many thanks a great deal.

FRIEDMAN: sweet to speak to you.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. See our site terms of good use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for more info.

NPR transcripts are manufactured for a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced employing a proprietary transcription procedure developed with NPR. This text may possibly not be with its last kind and may even be updated or revised as time goes on. Accuracy and supply may differ. The respected record of NPR’s development may be the sound record.