Posted on 06/03/2004 9:59:42 PM PDT by NYC GOP Chick
iz Ehrlich stood transfixed at the window of the Marc by Marc Jacobs store on Bleecker Street on Wednesday. Instead of a tableau of flirty spring dresses and chic round-toed pumps, it displayed a 2-foot-by-3-foot cardboard ace of spades with the image of President Bush.
Beneath that was a caption with the words, "I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president."
The longer she stared, the more she was put off. "Is this a joke?" asked Ms. Ehrlich, who works in marketing at Wired magazine.
It is not. The entire window display has been given over to partisan sentiment of an intensity that seems highly unusual for a major American fashion designer. It includes blown-up playing cards of several members of the administration, reminiscent of the United States military's deck showing members of the old Iraqi regime. The caption under Colin L. Powell's card reads, "My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources.''
Retailing experts called the display a risky strategy. Although the designer Kenneth Cole has created advertising meant to raise awareness of social issues like AIDS, and Diane von Furstenberg and others have raised money for Democrats, retail consultants could not recall a major designer expressing political opinions so provocatively.
"A store is supposed to be a place where you escape reality, lose yourself in the fun of fashion, buy yourself a treat," said Candace Corlett, a partner in WSL Strategic Retail, a New York consulting company. "Smacking customers in the face with a political issue - it's breaking the shopping karma."
Robert Duffy, the president of Marc Jacobs International, in which LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has a majority stake, said he came up with the idea for the display, with Mr. Jacobs's blessing. "We're fashion people, and we have a voice," he said.
Since the windows went up on May 24, they have not hurt sales, Mr. Duffy said, and they have drawn more praise than ire. "We've gotten thousands of positive messages, some from people coming into the store," he said. "We've gotten only three negative messages.''
The store, in the West Village, sells the actual playing cards for $8 a pack, as well as 92-cent buttons and bumper stickers with slogans like "G.O.P.: Greed, Oil and Plunder," "Nobody Died When Clinton Lied" and "Hail to the Thief."
Mr. Duffy said proceeds from the sales would go to Downtown for Democracy, an organization that describes itself as a political action committee mobilizing the creative community. He said the company had no immediate plans for similar displays at other stores.
Reaction from people passing the store was mixed. Meghan Sharigian, a garden designer who stopped to look on Wednesday, was all smiles. "People don't respond to the news," Ms. Sharigian said. "But they do respond to fashion."
But one middle-aged West Village resident, who identified himself only as Joe, stared sourly at a portrait of Condoleezza Rice, with a caption claiming she had an oil tanker named after her. "This may be a Democratic neighborhood," he said, "but I think the message is insulting to some people."
Ms. Ehrlich, the Wired marketer, said that the windows riled her enough to make her think twice about shopping inside. "We're in a sensitive world right now," she said. "And fanning the fires on our own street is not a good idea."
The window elicited only a shrug from Lisa Mayo, a hairdresser who works in the East Village. "It's interesting marketing," she said. "I guess they can voice their opinion. You don't necessarily have to agree."
She added, "I'm here to shop." Slung on her arm was a brand-new purchase from another of Mr. Jacobs's stores. "I couldn't help myself," she said. "I love their bags."
Yeesh! Whatta doofus!
Liberals always have to politicize everything. What I find interesting is they can't promote John F*ckin.' We should be so flattered they put President Bush in the marketing spotlight. Of course its intended to make him look bad but these guys have a knack for making him look good by giving him unintended exposure.
Never heard of the faggot.
And considering that I go clothes shopping like once a decade, he'll long have buggered off the scene by the time I get back to the stores.
It's time for the idiots to get a real job...
if his stuff ain't at wal-mart of rugged warehouse, I don't imagine I'll run into it.
should I have expected to see anything more than the slur "faggot".... ?
I think that one needs to be turned around...
Real men don't call themselves "Marc."
I dunno, Missy. Answering dumb rhetorical questions isn't my forte.
Do brush up on your legal precedents, though.
------ I dunno, Missy. Answering dumb rhetorical questions isn't my forte.
I see being a decent human isn't either...... talk about being overly agressive and demeaning..
I agree .. what is that old saying, "I don't care what they call me, just as long as they spell my name right".
Blind rage does cause people to lose touch with reality. I wish Marc well, but I'd say the chances are the "rich" conservatives will find another place to shop.
He's a Friend of Hillary! http://www.friendsofhillary.com/marcjacobs/
Anyway, are you the same Fifi who posts/used to post at that looney bin known as Capitol Grilling?
I don’t know why it still amazes me how so many people can be so proud of their stupidity.
The "progressive" community in New York has become so painfully predictable that it has become conservative and oh so mainstream.
Strange rays must emanate from the setting sun.
Marc Jacobs is the designer who put Hillary Clinton's face on his designer t-shirts. What a loser.
Good one!
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