Photo: Warner Bros.
Fans of the glittery, luxurious worlds that writer and director Baz Luhrmann conjures in his films have an extra reason to be cheery this holiday season. Barneys New York announced today that Luhrmann, the extravagant mastermind behind last year’s The Great Gatsby, 1996’s modernized Romeo + Juliet, and the tear-jerking classic Moulin Rouge, will collaborate with the retailer on its 2014 holiday campaign: “BAZ DAZZLED Holiday,” along with his wife, costume and set designer Catherine Martin.
According to the release, “BAZ DAZZLED Holiday” (a name that’s either cringe-worthy or hilarious, we can’t decide) will feature artwork that takes you into “a magical world filled with fantastical characters, woodland creatures, ice skaters, snow owls, and candy canes, along with their motto, ‘A Life Lived in Fear is a Life Half Lived.’” Luhrmann and Martin’s work often tells tales of fantastical(-ly wealthy) human beings, not creatures and candy canes, so it will be interesting to see what the two come up with.
“We embrace the opportunity of reveling in the holiday spirit by collaborating with Barneys, taking traditional holiday iconography and turning it on its head,” Luhrmann and Martin said. The playful artwork will take over the windows in Barneys’ Madison Avenue flagship, appearing in store displays and decorating shopping bags and gift cards. The whimsical theme will also extend to luxury holiday décor and gift items like ornaments, stockings, throws, and children’s toys. The sequined cherry on top of this whole initiative is Barneys will donate 25% of sales from all “BAZ DAZZLED Holiday” products to Room to Read, an organization focused on bringing literacy and gender equality in education to children all over the globe.
