BAZ DAZZLED! Baz Luhrmann For Barneys: The Holiday Windows, Products & Hoopla.

Baz Luhrmann For Barney's

Truth. Beauty. Freedom. Love. These are the four tenets at the heart of BAZ DAZZLED!, a special multifaceted holiday campaign for Barneys New York. The multi-platform initiative was created by film director Baz Luhrmann (known for his lush films such as Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby) and his wife, Oscar-winning production and costume designer Catherine Martin.

Baz Luhrmann For Barneys

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Celebrate the BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling
BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and wife CATHERINE MARTIN Celebrate the BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling

BAZ DAZZLED merges the iconic visual language of BAZ Luhrmann’s award-winning film work with the legendary wit and surprise of Barneys New York. Luhrmann and four-time Oscar winning production and costume designer Catherine Martin, along with the Barneys New York team under the lead of Creative Director Dennis Freedman, have taken traditional holiday themes and turned them upside down into a world of fantastical characters, enchanted environments, and luxurious, metallic textures.

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Host a Private Dinner at the Central Park Zoo in Celebration of a BAZ DAZZLED Holiday

the BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling

 BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling

The tradition of holiday storytelling was at the center of the collaboration, conceived by Luhrmann, Martin, and the Barneys New York creative team. In this mythical BAZ DAZZLED world, classical woodland creatures come to life in an urban environment: a contortionist b-boy elf, a wise old ‘True Owl’ who speaks the truth, a graffiti-ing squirrel who makes use of his gold spray paint through Barneys and beyond, and Celestina the ice princess, eternally skating and longing to be set free—with the whole mythical world ruled over by the Luna and Solar Queens. Inspired by Luhrmann and Martin’s extensive background in film, opera, theatre, and music, the expected becomes unexpected, the classic becomes modern, and the static comes alive in a series of live performances and interactive theater. Each window presents a snippet of these characters’ stories, expressing the Luhrmann and Martin ethos of “Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love.”

Barneys window unveiling exterior performance 2 IIHIH

“BAZ DAZZLED has allowed us an opportunity to bring theater to Madison Avenue,” said Barneys New York Creative Director Dennis Freedman. “By integrating live performance into the windows, we are breaking the traditional mold of holiday windows for an exciting and unprecedented experience.”

Pentatonix:
Barneys New York, Luhrmann, and Martin have collaborated with breakout a cappella group Pentatonix—comprised of vocalists Scott Hoying, Kirstie Maldonado, and Mitch Grassi, vocal bass Avi Kaplan, and beatboxer Kevin “K.O.” Olusola—who exclusively scored and recorded custom versions of classics for this collaboration. In addition to scoring the windows with original vocals and arrangements of classic holiday carols, Pentatonix provided actual vocals to several characters.

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Celebrate the BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling

Costumes:
Costumes for the characters in the BAZ DAZZLED world have been created by designer Zaldy in collaboration with Oscar-winning production and costume designer Catherine Martin. All performance elements featured in the windows were directed in collaboration with Luhrmann, Martin, Barneys New York, and Andrew Katz.

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Host a Private Dinner at the Central Park Zoo in Celebration of a BAZ DAZZLED Holiday

Barneys window unveiling makeup IIHIH

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Celebrate the BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling

The Dinner:
After the unveiling, guests including Baz Luhrmann & Catherine Martin, Richard & Lisa Perry, Mark Lee, Amy Sacco, Aurelie Bidermann, Dakota Fanning, Dao-Yi Chow & Maxwell Osborne of Public School, Deborra-Lee Furness, Dennis Freedman, Estelle, Giovanna Battaglia, Jessica Joffe, Kate Foley, Lily Kwong, Meryl Poster, Michael Avedon, Pat Cleveland, Simon Doonan, Victoria Justice, Wendi Deng, and Zani Gugelmann made their way to the Central Park Zoo for an intimate dinner where Pentatonix performed yet again.

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Host a Private Dinner at the Central Park Zoo in Celebration of a BAZ DAZZLED Holiday

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Host a Private Dinner at the Central Park Zoo in Celebration of a BAZ DAZZLED Holiday

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Host a Private Dinner at the Central Park Zoo in Celebration of a BAZ DAZZLED Holiday

The Ice Sculpture:
the ice sculpture IIHIH

Costumed stilt walkers served Ruinart Champagne at the private dinner:
BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Host a Private Dinner at the Central Park Zoo in Celebration of a BAZ DAZZLED Holiday

Several celebrity guests, such as Dakota Fanning, attended the unveiling and following private dinner:
dakota fanning at the unveiling

THE BAZ DAZZLED MADISON AVENUE WINDOWS

LOVE:
A magical corner of Central Park is the mythical setting for the first window, which depicts a forest of 9-foot chromed mushrooms in a rainbow of colors. Elphresh the elf contorts and dances in and around his 14-foot-wide gold and bejeweled boom box, in pursuit of his impossible love, Elfemeral. The performance is scored by Pentatonix.

Barneys LOVE window hero IIHIH

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Celebrate the BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling

BEAUTY:
The Spirits of the Snow star in this window, realized by Washington-based artist Anthony Howe and voiced by Pentatonix. These handmade kinetic sculptures, previously only seen as outdoor wind machines, come to life within the window—the first time Howe’s work has been shown in an interior space. The movement of these spirited characters is entirely generated by wind machines, which sets them into mesmerizing motion.

Barneys BEAUTY window hero IIHIH

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Celebrate the BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling

TRUTH:
“Truth” the True Owl—an animal known for its wisdom—resides in the third window. Artist and sculptor Chris Cole has created an 8-foot-tall, 6-foot-wide steampunk talking owl which gravely speaks his words of wisdom, scored to Pentatonix’s version of Madonna’s “Holiday.”

Barneys TRUTH window hero IIHIH

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Celebrate the BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling

FREEDOM:
Celestina the ice princess, imprisoned for eternity in her ice cave in our mythical tale, skates forlornly in the last window while dreaming of freedom. The performance is scored by Pentatonix.

Barneys FREEDOM window hero IIHIH

THE BAZ DAZZLED MADISON AVENUE FACADE
BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Celebrate the BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling

In addition to the individual windows, the front of the Madison Avenue store has been covered in an expansive facade that brings the BAZ DAZZLED world beyond the windows. From above it all, the Solar Queen and Luna Queen sing out across Madison Avenue, stationed at two Juliet balconies built out of the second floor.

Barneys New York "Baz Dazzled" Holiday Window Unveiling

THE BAZ DAZZLED UNVEILING

BARNEYS NEW YORK, BAZ LUHRMANN and CATHERINE MARTIN Celebrate the BAZ DAZZLED Holiday Window Unveiling

The holiday windows were unveiled last night in a spectacular production for audiences on Madison Avenue. The street was fully transformed into interactive experience, with an extravagant theatrical performance encompassing various elements from the BAZ DAZZLED motif.

The event centered around the Pentatonix, who gave a live performance of the remixed holiday carols featured in the windows. A modern dance troupe of men and women exploded on the street, followed by a team of figure skaters who performed on synthetic ice. The Luna Queen and Solar Queen emerged onto the two Juliet balconies on the second floor, and accompanied Pentatonix for an exclusive, custom-scored version of Madonna’s “Holiday.” To close out the epic performance, a drum line joined the festivities before the windows were finally revealed. The unveiling was directed in collaboration with Luhrmann, Martin, Barneys New York, and Andrew Katz.

Video of The Making of the Windows:

THE BAZ DAZZLED COLLECTION

Baz Dazzled logo on black IIHIH
Baz Dazzled holiday decor IIHIH

Barneys New York has worked with Luhrmann and Martin to create a range of XO Exclusively Ours, limited edition holiday gift items inspired by the mythical characters and narrative that express Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love.

Baz Dazzled Truth beauty freedom love products IIHIH

The product assortment focuses on luxury holiday decor and gifts: a champagne sabre by Berti engraved with “Freedom, Truth, Beauty, Love;” handcrafted star-etched crystal tumblers, a knit rabbit throw by Adrienne Landau, pillows embroidered with “A Life Lived in Fear is a Life Half Lived” by Studio DKS, children’s costumes, stuffed animals and a hand-painted play tent.

Baz Dazzled products2 IIHIH

In addition, extraordinary items including a one-of-a-kind fur-lined sleeping bag, luxury picnic set, and more have been created in collaboration with Prada exclusively for BAZ DAZZLED.
Barneys New York BAZ DAZZLED Bags

In the spirit of the holiday season and in honor of this special collaboration, Barneys New York will donate 25% of sales from all BAZ DAZZLED Holiday products to Room to Read, a global organization that seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.

baz dazzled barneys hero IIHIH

BAZ DAZZLED products are available now for a limited time at Chelsea Passage on the 9th floor of the Barneys New York Madison Avenue flagship location, select Barneys New York locations nationwide, and Barneys.com.

BARNEYS NEW YORK LOGO

The Baz Dazzled Holiday event was sponsored by Alliance Data Retail Services who supports the Barneys New York credit card program.

All photos, videos and press release information courtesy of Barney’s New York