SAKS FIFTH AVENUE CELEBRATES AMAZON PRIME SHOWS WITH NEW WINDOWS
On June 22, in celebration of the windows, cast members, producers and costume and production designers from the various programs made a special red carpet appearance, including Mozart in the Jungle stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Saffron Burrows, and Malcolm McDowell. (Bernal and Burrows will also grace the retailer’s fall magalogs, due out in September). Also on hand were Joel de la Fuente and Brennan Brown of The Man in the High Castle, and Alexandra Billings and Our Lady J from Transparent, among others.
“One of the things we do at Saks is constantly reinvent ourselves and find new ways to entertain our customers. We can’t just stand still in this current retail world,” Marc Briggs, Saks’ chief creative officer told MR. “One of the great thing these windows do is marry great fashion with a great store and great entertainment. We are showcasing five different diverse stories with different sorts of fashion: something for everyone – that’s our mantra. What the shows and our creative team have given us here is the best of the best in terms of fashion and costumes in these windows.”
The windows for Mozart in the Jungle were particularly striking, thanks to two very different men’s costumes. “Sometimes, we have to get crafty with trim and things like broken earrings to enliven a standard tuxedo, and my assistant and I work like little elves to get it done overnight,” said costume designer Katy Riley. “We do lot a research, from reference books to talking to real people, to prove that classical musicians are not always stuffy. They don’t spend all their time in tuxes and little black dresses, and we try to show that to the viewers.”
As for working with Bernal, who won a Golden Globe award for his portrayal of the brash, unconventional symphony conductor Rodrigo, Riley says: “Gael is very collaborative when it comes to the costumes; we start chatting about ideas the minute we get the scripts. He really is a dream to work with.”
For his part, McDowell — who said that this event was the first time he remembered seeing himself in a store window — said that he enjoyed working on the show as much viewers seemed to enjoy watching his mercurial character, Thomas, the symphony’s emeritus conductor. “Actually, I am just thrilled to be working at my age,” said the 74-year-old star (who came to worldwide fame in the 1971 drama A Clockwork Orange.) “That said, I only tend watch each episode once, usually with my wife, who tends offer to some little bit of criticism every time.”