Nick Mele X Bergdorf Goodman
A New York Affair
After three years as an artist in residence at Bergdorf Goodman, Nick was invited to create a special series celebrating the iconic Fifth Avenue department store’s 125th anniversary. Bringing Bergdorf’s legendary sense of fantasy together with Nick’s signature wit, glamour and whimsy turned out to be a match made in heaven.
the Windows
Bergdorf Goodman’s windows have always existed in that rare space where art, fashion and commerce collide. For decades, they have transformed Fifth Avenue into a kind of public theater, using fantasy, wit, scale and spectacle to turn a storefront into something closer to an installation. For Nick, the natural next step was to imagine what might happen if that fantasy escaped the glass entirely. The same strange creatures, glamorous characters and impossible ideas that once lived inside the windows could suddenly spill into the store, onto the sidewalk and out into New York itself, where the line between real life and Bergdorf’s imagination could happily disappear.
a Major production
It took three days, a production crew of more than 20, countless permits, vintage wardrobes, stylists, and more vans than anyone cared to count to bring this particular fantasy to life. It all began with a treasure hunt through Bergdorf Goodman's legendary archive of window displays, followed by location scouting across New York City and inside the iconic store itself. From early mornings before the doors opened to late nights long after the last shopper had gone home, an extraordinary team transformed some of New York's most recognizable places into scenes that ordinarily exist only in one's imagination. An enormous production devoted to creating a little mischief, a lot of magic, and photographs guaranteed to make you smile. After all, who wouldn't want Bergdorf Goodman all to themselves after hours?
