The newly opened Goodman’s Bar hides on the second floor of Bergdorf Goodman‘s Men’s Store offering the best of European bar and cafe fare by Chef Austin Johnson. “This store has not smelled food in a very long time,” says Johnson.Indeed, the sultry Art Deco-inspired bistro housed in the iconic New York department store is one of those unexpected secrets you’d like to keep for yourself — what better treat after some shopping than gruyere gougères and wine?
Swanky in-store dining feeds into a particular kind of nostalgia, and with last year’s L’Avenue opening at Saks Fifth Avenue, the neighboring store has to up its game. Goodman’s Bar, however, is a hushed newcomer that prefers to keep it that way. The cozy space features small table-sets against deep blue walls and leather cushioning. A hand-painted mural of Central Park frames the bar with wingback chairs by Tom Dixon and lighting by Apparatus. And so in one cozy space meets the good ol’ New York and the modern design on, both united by a passion for boozy French cuisine and chatty evenings.
The Michelin-starred chef of Paris’ Le Frenchie is joined by Eleven Madison Avenue’s former wine director Dustin Wilson. The duo presents an array of traditional French cuisine (think: foie gras and steak tartare) accompanied with an extensive list of wine all available by the glass. We spoke with the team about the inspirations behind the bar and all the in-betweens.
EH: Why is the bar-resto in the men’s section of the store? What was the interior design inspired by?
Goodman’s Bar: We have been wanting to incorporate a café/bar into the men’s store for many years as a destination in and of itself and as a service to our shoppers and customers. The culture and interest surrounding food and wine and restaurants have increased vastly in the past few years and we wanted to make sure an entry we had in that field was the absolute best in class, exceeding all expectations. The concept itself, as well as the environment and interior, was inspired by the likes of the timeless bars and cafés you see in Paris, Vienna, and Milan. Those special neighborhood in-the-know spots where you can enjoy the best coffee and a paper, stop in with coworkers or for a lunch meeting and your favorite tagliatelle, and then after work aperitivi and wine from an obscure, exciting vintner.
How do the kitchen and the store work symbiotically? Does this affect the way you’ve created the menu as well?
Chef Austin Johnson: I’ve had a great time cooking here. The idea we are cooking on this floor of Bergdorf’s is a pleasure. This store has not smelled food in a very long time. So again when we develop our dishes we think not just about taste but how will this smell on the retail floor. Or will this generate unnecessary smoke? It has been a fun challenge.
What have you learned from your previous experiences that prompted the kind of cooking that you practice now? What did you want to make sure to include/avoid at Goodman’s?
Chef Austin Johnson: I have been extremely lucky to work with amazing chefs. My goal was always to work at the best restaurants in the world and absorb as much knowledge as I could in my early cooking days. I want Goodman’s Bar to feel like technically sound cuisine whether that is a soup or salad for lunch or a higher-end experience in the evening. This menu allows you to do both.
What elements did you focus on for the menu? Tell me a bit about the behind-the-behind the scenes of creating the menu. What was the train of thought that brought it to where it is now?
Chef Austin Johnson: We had to be creative with our kitchen space. We have more refrigeration than firepower back there. So we focus a lot on raw techniques such as our Crudo, tartare or oysters. Execution is the most important so when designing the menu you have to create something that is possible for the team to execute on an extremely consistent basis.
How do you curate your wine list? What were some of the points you made sure to follow?
Master Sommelier Dustin Wilson: I made sure to pick wines that are very food-friendly and would work well with Chef Austin’s cuisine. I also made choices that I felt would resonate with the guests that we expect to see coming by in this space – guests who are well-traveled and have great taste. I wanted to also fold in some unexpected choices that I love personally that will hopefully allow guests to explore and be a little adventurous with their drinking in this bar.
Haute couture, which roughly translates to ‘high dressmaking’ or ‘high fashion,’ has historically been defined as a hand-tailored item made for one individual client. But just because you do custom orders doesn’t mean you can call yourself a Haute couture designer — you have to be admitted by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in France. There are currently only 150 official Haute couturiers working today, and Givenchy is one of the originals.
Due to their exclusivity, unless you’re famous or just very rich, these coveted garments are hard to come by. Fortunately, Givenchy is releasing a capsule collection with Bergdorf Goodman, inspired by some of its greatest couture hits. While couture has mainly being dominated by womenswear, the French designer infused its magic in a range of menswear pieces. Trousers are flared, and some are given a zipper detail for a modern edge. Extra attention to detail makes men’s standards — including a white button-down shirt, a leather jacket, and a blazer — all the more refined and crisper.
The “Givenchy Atelier” collection is available now at Bergdorf Goodman and online now.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a general hypebeast, it might be worthwhile to head to Bergdorf Goodman for a once-in-a-lifetime experience courtesy of the Rolling Stones. From now until August 13, the legendary band is hosting a pop-up at the flagship store with a range of limited edition pieces inspired by the British group’s iconic style. The collection makes nods to the band’s extensive iconography — think giant tongues and Union Jacks, etc — in an exclusive range curated by the co-founder of beloved concept store Colette (RIP), Sarah Andelman. In addition to the New York store, the pop-ups will launch in Los Angeles and Miami later this year.
This week’s complete social snapshot, distilled for your pleasure.
From the hottest celebrity parties to the regretful morning-after shots, ESSENTIAL HOMME‘s Weekly Instagram Roundup brings all of the hottest designer, model, and trendsetting pics from the week directly to you. After all, no one has time to scroll through anything but the best.
Issey Miyake
Issey Miyake revealed images from its upcoming Shunga collection, first seen in ESSENTIAL HOMME October/November 2016, that features the brand’s erotic portrayal of sexuality and design through the use of textiles and silhouettes, honoring one of Japan’s time-honored artistic movements.
Drake
Drake, the champagnepapi himself, challenged Taylor Swift’s previous Apple Music ad with one of his own, rocking out to “Bad Blood” while hitting the gym hard. Could this be the start of the next great Apple collab following the brand’s recent work with the iconic Paul Smith?
Cadet
Trevor Signorino certainly has had a busy week. Pictured here trying out Cadet‘s new Spring/Summer 2017 collection—the roman legion-inspired hardened collection—the it-model also jet-set to open the new Palazzo Versace hotel in Dubai on the arm of Donatella herself.
Bruce Pask
Bergdorf Goodman‘s Men’s Fashion Director Bruce Pask shared a sneak peek into the retailer’s upcoming holiday pop-up shop with these resin craft pieces, hand selected by Paul Smith himself. The beaded beauties interestingly feature the same wild color palette as the designer’s latest Spring/Summer 2017 collection.
Canali 1934
Don’t settle for anything less than magical when it comes to your accessories this season. Canali‘s latest campaign film, teased on Instagram this week, is an enchanting look at the brand’s upcoming pieces, which would appear to pair perfectly with its latest headphones release.
Majed Al-Sabah, the undisputed “Sheikh of chic,” has spent much of his life traveling the world wherever his entrepreneurial flights of fancy take him. So when he says that everyone always tells him he smells wonderful, he really does mean everyone. His secret? The Fragrance Kitchen, the olfactive home base for all of the perfume blends Al-Sabah has collected, and most definitely worn, over the years. The latest offering, Sheikh Hamad Al-Thani, named for the former Emir and Prime Minister of Qatar, is a limited edition fragrance that blends rich, wholesome scents – amber, cedarwood, leather – with offerings of an oriental, airy nature – ylang ylang and bergamot. The resulting concoction is immediately transportive, the initial notes a stark reminder of a historical Qatar – one of desert and water. As the scent blends, it opens up to a new, lighter breath, a tribute to the Qatar of today, a thriving metropolis. Wrapped up in a frosted, matte-white bottle with faint Arabic writing gleaming on the surface, Sheikh Hamad Al-Thani is a true royal amongst today’s fragrance offerings.
Sheik Hamad Al-Thani is available for a limited time, exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman.
Celebrating Goodman’s‘ (the men’s store at Bergdorf Goodman) 25 anniversary, the retailer has selected luxury optic brand Barton Perreira to star in the store’s eyewear category. Handcrafted in Japan but infused with a Cali-cool spirit, the special edition sunglasses play off vintage style made anew with rich materials. From tortoiseshell to clear champagne, the high-end, rounded-eye lot—conceived by BP founders Bill Barton, Patty Perreira, and Tim Cadiente—arrives with a co-branded case and felt cloth cleaner.
Barton Perriera x Bergodrof Goodman is now available online.
When Tiffany & Co. comes to mind, many immediately imagine a classic engagement ring inside a robin egg blue box. What some might be unaware of, though, is that the iconic jewelry maker also has a long history in men’s watches. Now Tiffany brings its luxury timepieces to the forefront with the launch of Tiffany CT60, a new collection of watches inspired by founder Charles Lewis Tiffany and his company’s birthplace, New York City.
Tiffany & Co.
Patterned after the Tiffany & Co. gold watch originally given to President Franklin Roosevelt in 1945, the new pieces have an updated twist in design, along with a campaign featuring New York men sharing their lives in a New York minute. In the brand’s new video, Victor Cruz, wide receiver of the New York Giants and 2012 Super Bowl Champion, is seen taking a cab ride through the city while Marcus Samuelsson, award-winning chef and author, rides the subway to his restaurant, Red Rooster. “Salvador Dali said if it doesn’t exist in New York, it doesn’t exist”, says Alexander Gilkes, co-founder of online auction house Paddle8, from a chic café and Nick Wooster, previous men’s fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman, struts through the streets with his Tiffany CT60 like the true men’s street style king that he is.
We’ve been making a list and checking it—along with our bank accounts to keep us from getting too crazy—twice, and let’s just say it’s looking like a pretty cheery season. Here’s your long-awaited wish list for gift giving/receiving/begging for you, your brother, dad, cousin, uncle and all the other dudes in your life, no matter what holiday is to be celebrated.
1. Cable-knit wool and cashmere-blend rollneck sweater, TOMORROWLAND
Image: Tomorrowland.
Comfy, cold, and cool—there is just enough thickness in this blended sweater to pad the fall after passing out post holiday brunch.
Because last year’s leather trousers just aren’t cutting it anymore, you know? This tailored pair features Acne Studio’s precise construction and contemporary stamp of cool.
6. Tabasco-oxidation sneaker in deep orange, GUCCI
Image: Gucci.
This limited edition sneaker is a fiery blast of color that bursts forward thoughts of sunny days, Tabasco sauce, and reese’s pieces. It’s a strange combination, but—like your own annual family get together—sure to at least be interesting.
One of the fashion industry’s most respected individuals: Bruce Pask, Men’s Fashion Director at Bergdorf Goodman, discusses his own past, present, and future.
Essential Homme: Your scholastic background suggests a strong interest and accomplished skill set in both art history and economics. Shortly after college you joined the team at GQ. How did this come about? Was it a long time dream for you to be a part of the fashion industry?
Bruce Pask: While in high school during the heyday of the Preppy Handbook and all those John Hughes movies, we really did aspire to that aesthetic that seemed so exotic to us in the small town of Yuma, Arizona. It was an escape for me and my friends who pored over fashion magazines and shopped very seriously with our incredibly limited budgets. I chose to attend a liberal arts school, The College of William and Mary, in order to explore both the practical and the artistic sides of my personality, studying Economics and Art History. Art History ultimately won out.
I moved to NYC with friends in order to attend graduate school and got a job as a stock boy and weekend store help at Paul Smith on Fifth Avenue, a position that I found advertised in the classifieds in the back of the Village Voice. I stayed in grad school for about a week before realizing that fashion was where I wanted to focus my attention. So I left the halls of academe in favor of the shop floor.
I vividly remember choosing to wear a rather loud postcard print shirt, mustard pants, and a brown double-breasted jacket to my interview at GQ Magazine. Luckily, and gratefully, I got the job. Working at GQ with Jim Moore as a mentor was much like attending a graduate school. I learned everything about menswear, fabrics, designers, styling, art direction, all of it. It’s where I developed and honed a point of view and a style.
EH: In 2000, you departed GQ and you spent roughly three years working as a stylist and also as a costume designer. What prompted this change?
BP: I spent almost a decade at GQ working with Jim Moore and the team there, first as an assistant, and then assisting on shoots, working my way up to market editing and styling my own shoots, ultimately serving as associate fashion director. It was a fantastic life working with such an amazing group of talented editors, traveling to the fashion shows in Europe and shoots all over the world, working with gifted photographers and creative teams. I absolutely loved it. But there was a point when I felt that I wanted to pursue other possibilities in menswear and styling, and it necessitated taking the leap and going out on my own to explore. It was certainly a challenging decision to leave GQ and Jim, who has always been incredibly generous to me throughout my career there and he continues to be to this day.
“
Annie Leibovitz taught me
an incredible amount about naturalism
in fashion and styling, and how clothing
can help get to the heart and truth
of a person.
”
EH: What was the experience like designing costumes for the theater?
I was first asked to costume design a Broadway play after Joe Mantello, a great director who had worked with my twin brother Scott, recognized my last name on the credits for an Annie Leibovitz photograph of Lou Reed in Vanity Fair that I had styled. He took a chance on me and I designed the revival of Noel Coward’s “Design for Living.” Joe then asked both Scott and I to design a double bill that he directed at the Williamstown Theater Festival. Fashion styling and photography have always been my primary medium, but I have always really enjoyed my forays into the theater world. It’s a very different three dimensional context and an organic process collaborating with a director and actors for the duration of a show and I found that extension of my work really rewarding.
EH: What are some of your all time favorite styling jobs and unforgettable on set experiences?
BP: Annie Leibovitz taught me an incredible amount about naturalism in fashion and styling, and how clothing can help get to the heart and truth of a person and how it can also be used to create and develop character. We shot many actors for the magazine including a Hollywood Issue cover with everyone from Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Jude Law, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Harrison Ford—many of the movie greats. We worked on a particularly notable shoot of the cast of Friends costumed as a 1930s circus troupe that I still can’t believe we actually pulled off. It’s one of my favorites. There was also an amazing black and white image of Adrien Brody reclining in a disheveled tweed suit that I still see people referencing. I styled a couple of memorable ad campaigns for The Sopranos where I collaborated closely with the show’s costume designer and discovered my fascination with storytelling through costume and clothing. It was a great partnership and Annie really pushed me to do my best work, to really think a lot about the role, the importance of clothing in an image.
EH: What was your most valuable learning experience during your eight years with The New York Times’ T Magazine?
BP: I was lured back to the world of publishing by Ariel Foxman, who I was captivated by the minute I met him. I was very happy in my freelance styling world working on varied and rewarding projects, but I found him absolutely compelling, incredibly intelligent, and witty. I couldn’t pass up the chance to be a part of Cargo magazine. We had an incredible time working together, and I will always regard Cargo and working with Ariel with such fondness. After the sad dissolution of the magazine I was brought to T by Stefano Tonchi. It was an amazing place to work, and he was an inspired and inspiring leader. The team there was filled with the most gifted editors in each of their fields. I suppose what I learned the most about during my tenure at T was to work hard, be expansive in thinking about fashion in the broader cultural context, and to be as kind and as generous as possible. We are incredibly fortunate to have these jobs in fashion that we hold. It’s a fascinating, intriguing, challenging world, fashion is, and we must value and remember that at all times. To travel around the globe the way that we do, to experience the incredible spectacles and fashion shows that we attend, to meet and work with the incredibly talented people we encounter is an absolute rarity. I try to always keep that in mind, every day.
EH: Your twin brother Scott is a three-time Tony Award winning set designer who’s also designed scenic elements for a number of first-rate fashion shows. Do you both enjoy the occasional collision of your two worlds? Have the two of you ever had the opportunity to collaborate?
BP: Though our first true collaboration was at Williamstown, we did make our Broadway debut together a few years ago for the revival of the Burt Bacharach musical “Promises, Promises” directed by Rob Ashford. It was initially terrifying thinking about working on a show as large as Broadway musical where not only do the almost two hundred costumes need to be designed and built from head to toe and be durable enough to last for eight performances a week for months and months, but they also have to be able to be danced in. Having Scott as a collaborator really helped with easing me into uncharted territory. His guidance and experience helped to make the show an unforgettable experience.
EH: What can you tell me about the transition from working with magazine to working with an iconic retail institution like Bergdorf Goodman?
I have been working in publishing and magazines for a very long time and was absolutely intrigued by the chance to take that experience and utilize it in a related, but certainly very different context. The shifting of my environments, going from the newsroom to the store floor and buying offices has been completely reinvigorating. I’ll certainly apply my editorial eye to help enhance the shopping experience for our customer by continuing to further define and represent our point of view, that lens through which we as a store focus the fashion we present, across all platforms in the physical store and online, in the magazine and through social media.
“
I’ll certainly apply my editorial eye
to help enhance the shopping experience
for our customer by continuing to further
define and represent our point of view.
”
EH: How would you describe the Bergdorf Goodman shopping experience?
I think Bergdorf Goodman offers a truly unparalleled luxurious shopping experience. Our store really is like no other in the world. The clothing and accessories we offer are from the best, most coveted collections in the world and are chosen by our gifted buying team with our sophisticated customer and his needs and desires absolutely in mind. We feature this carefully distilled selection and present it in a singularly luxurious, comfortable environment overseen by the most knowledgeable and attentive sales team there is. It is simply the most luxurious shopping experience you will have. Our shopper is able to choose from collections like Berluti and Tom Ford that are exclusive to us, in our newly renovated designer and tailoring floors, alongside the rest of our impeccably edited offering, all under one glorious roof.
EH: What should we be sure to check out at Bergdorf Goodman this summer?
The new Goodman’s Bar opening on the second floor in August is certainly poised to become one of the next great watering holes and meeting spots. It will be a sort of refined respite, if you will, for people to come relax and have a drink, a bite and enjoy their company and conversations in our beautiful store.
EH: Do you have any personal favorite menswear trends for the coming fall?
BP: I’m really intrigued by the continued confluence of athletics and fashion. We’ve seen the sneaker and all of its exciting iterations grow hugely in popularity and acceptance as a vital part of a man’s wardrobe. I’m excited about the new Tom Ford sneaker being introduced for fall, a classic shape in both low and high top, in velvet and beautifully polished leathers. Also, designers like Tomas Maier at Bottega Veneta have reinterpreted the traditional track pant silhouette in luxurious fabrications, elevating the athletic basic for wear far beyond the confines of a gym.
The English designers behind the labels Marwood—known for Creative Director Becky French’s perfection of woven silk, wool, and traditional English Leavers lace—and Alice Made This, makers of precision turned metal cufflinks, have collaborated on a limited edition collection of ties and tie pins available at Bergdorf Goodman. Plated with gold, silver, copper, and pure rhodium, the pins adorn textured silk and wool jacquard ties in muted geometric prints. At $470 each, each piece is the perfect, hip accent to any conservative suit.
The Marwood x Alice Made This collection is now available at Bergdorf Goodman.
With a book title like I Am Dandy: The Return of the Elegant Gentleman, it is only so fitting that its release party followed suit. Last week, Brioni and Bergdorf Goodman celebrated the publication of the book, held at the Brioni boutique inside the newly renovated men’s floor in the New York Bergdorf Goodman. Check out the photos below.
The book, which features photographs by Rose Callahan and writing by Nathaniel Adams, highlights what Essential Homme readers know all too well: the dapper man is back and better than ever.
British menswear brand Baracuta is best known for making the kind of outer wear style icons like Steve McQueen used to wear on the regular. For Spring/Summer 2013 they’ve introduced a special edition of the iconic G4, inspired by 1950’s surf culture, exclusively for Bergdorf Goodman. Made in the UK, the G4’s exterior consists of Baracuta’s signature water-repellant cotton nylon poplin, as well as three stripes on the chest. The classic Baracuta double button collar and flap-closure multi-utility pockets round out the exterior, while the interior contains a Japanese, super light mesh lining. Check image details and price, after the jump.
The jacket, exclusively sold at Bergdorf Goodman is available now and retails for $495.
