Vanity Fair kicked off its “Campaign New York” Monday night at Barney's New York with a cocktail party and signing of the magazine’s new collection of photography, Vanity Fair: The Portraits, A Century of Iconic Images. The promotional campaign turns the Upper East Side into a free museum of sorts for the next 10 days, with photos from the book on display in 98 shops on Madison Avenue.
On the inspiration for the interactive advertisement, vice president and publisher of Vanity Fair Edward Menicheschi told Women’s Wear Daily, “We wondered what we could do that would be different and make a real statement. Then we thought, wouldn’t it be cool if we could turn New York into a gallery space?”
Stores from 57th Street to 85th Street, including Banana Republic, DKNY, and Vera Wang, signed on to host the photographs of contemporary and classic celebrities through the Madison Avenue Improvement District. To encourage the public to participate, the magazine created an audio walking tour anyone can download to their computer or stream on their iPhone.
Although the images are free for public consumption, there are several additional private events planned for the program that runs through September 26, including a conversation between contributing editors Christopher Hitchens and Dee Dee Meyers. “Campaign New York” partnered with sponsor American Express to offer that event and other exclusive packages for its card members at some of the participating businesses. The magazine also sold a reported 120 ad pages based on the campaign, with more than 20 percent of them representing new clients.
