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WARDROBE CRISIS with Clare Press
Barney's Window Dresser Simon Doonan's Extraordinary Fashion Life
Season 1, Ep. 12
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Before ecommerce changed the world, designers knew they'd made it when their collections were stocked by Saks, Bergdorf's or Barneys.
The iconic New York department stores hold a special allure, even when you live elsewhere.
But retail, globally, is in a state of flux. Will there even be physical stores in 10 or 20 years' time? As customers continue to head online, it seems like every week there's news of another “bricks and mortar” closure. In the US, analysts predict 25 % of malls could shutter within the next five years. Will we ditch consumerism on mass, as the anti-shopping / buy nothing movements expand? Will renting fashion and clothing libraries become major trends? Or is it still all about experiences?
The latter is where Simon Doonan comes in. He calls himself a carnival type, likens his celebrated window displays for Barneys New York to something out of Coney Island – and indeed he has put some very unusual objects in shop windows in his time.
Creative director, writer, fashion commentator and OTT window dresser extraordinaire, Simon Doonan is an actual proper fashion legend.
Wait till you hear how he got into it. Growing up gay and dreaming of glamour in 1960s Reading, he moved to Manchester then London in search of “the beautiful people”, cadging window dressing jobs off the likes Tommy Nutter (tailor to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones) and cult filmmaker Ken Russell's wife.
Simon was a Blitz Kid (part of the famed London party set) then moved to LA, where he did windows for luxury boutique Maxfield. In mid-80s Manhattan, he worked for Diana Vreeland at the Met, before joining Barneys, where, you know, he was JUST CASUALLY FRIENDS WITH JOAN RIVERS. And nearly starred in The Devil Wears Prada.
Simon's story is both extraordinary, and, in a weird way ordinary – in that Fashion Land has long been a place where eccentric, creative kids from small, unremarkable towns can find a home and thrive.
In this Episode we talk about his professional path, and how today's new generation of designers and dream weavers can navigate the changed fashion landscape. We discuss Simon's unwavering belief in the value of originality - ("Conformity is the only real fashion crime," he says) and some of the fashion geniuses he's encountered. And of course we talk shop.
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