NYC as seen by db's iPhone camera :: bergdorf goodman holiday windows

First of all, sincere apologies for my absence.  The flurry of holiday-related events kept me away from my blogging duties, but now it's 2010 and I'm back and ready to blog!

I went home to NYC/CT for the holidays -- Christmas is one of my favorite times of year in the City, next to Spring with the Cherry Blossoms in  bloom in Central Park.

My family and I were attending a dinner at dear friends' apartment the night of the 23rd and I decided to spend the day traipsing about, taking in my favorite sights before stuffing my face with food.  As is typical, I was the last one ready to go to the train station in Old Greenwich and was rushing and my camera was left behind.  Thankfully I had my iPhone with me (as if I would go anywhere with out it!) so I was still able to capture some of the sights.

The holiday windows at Bergdorf's are always one of my favorite stops on the Christmas-time 5th Avenue pilgrimage and the design this year did not disappoint!   This year the theme was "A Compendium of Curiosities" with references to MC Escher, Op-Art, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and vintage Victoriana.

I am actually quite proud of the photos I took with my phone... given the time of day, the buildings on the other side of 5th Avenue are reflected in the images, which adds another dimension to the fantastical nature of the windows:

all photos by brett valenstein & bergdorf goodman

rachel ward and kate spade new york

Do you follow kate spade { @katespadeny } on twitter ?  Well, you should. Had I not been following kate spade, I would not have been privy to some truly behind the scenes photos of the new flagship in Tokyo.

The flagship recently opened its doors and {swoon} I’m positively in love, enchanted, obsessed, etc!

ward's concept sketches

the chosen palette for the kate spade installation

kate spade new york collaborated with artist Rebecca Ward on design elements in the new  store.  Rebecca Ward is an Austin-based  installation artist that creates site-specific works that use existing geometry, such as beams, ceiling lines and angles.  As a result, much of her work is inherently architectural.  Ward takes detailed measurements of the  installation site and uses the information to create patterns that are numerically symmetrical and produce a dialogue between line and space.

Ward’s preferred medium is colored tape due to its intriguing texture and the fact that it is available in a wide range of colors.  Tape also allows Ward to bring her creations into the third dimension, as opposed to two parallel lines drawn or painted on a wall.

Ward’s work is impressive and is a great fit with kate spade new york’s  whimsical and effervescent spirit.  I am in total awe of the precision of Ward’s work….. I just broke into hives thinking about having to mask walls for painting!  It takes a tremendous effort on my part to keep the tape straight, or else the end-result of  my painting project may look wabi-sabi inspired.

Here are some more photos of Ward and her assistant Tamara during the installation.  {Thanks again to the lovely peeps at kate spade for tweeting and facebook-ing these images!}

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Check back for part two to see more photos of the rest of the store!

when can i move in?: kate spade's recently re-designed 5th ave flagship store

This past summer, the genius minds behind kate spade decided to re-imagine the design of their 5th avenue flagship store.  The result? The re-design captures the ebullient and whimsical spirit of kate spade in all three dimensions and is a treat for all the senses.

The designers wanted customers to feel like they were visiting someone’s wonderfully whimsical apartment, so customers are greeted by a candy-colored striped rug that draws you deeper into the store from the street — once the stripes reach the foyer and sitting area, the pattern is carries up onto the wall and is re-imagined as fanciful wallpaper.

Vintage furniture and pillows, books and candy cocktail rings from papabubble.com are mixed in with the kate spade merch, which creates a different shopping experience than walking into your more typical retail store.

In the main area of the store, quirky collectibles from lamps to ceramics are mixed in with items available for purchase.

Many of the in-store vignettes encourage participation, like the vintage Olivetti typewriter, which is dubbed the “tweeterwriter” for sending tweets to your new fave kate spade bag, a record player with a collection of vintage LPs {that stands for long playing records, kids}.  A collection of brightly colored rotary phones deliver sounds of crashing waves, chirping birds and whistling girls.

On another note, I’ve always coveted Carrie Bradshaw’s rotary phone that sat on a chair next to her bed — a bright yellow one would look absolutely fab in my bedroom, but I digress….