On Monday night, before hundreds of celebrities, fashion folk, and other notable names showed off their designer duds on the red carpet of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute gala, one guest got ready for the affair in a very public space. In the windows of Barneys New York, Daphne Guinness donned an Alexander McQueen-designed pale gray duck- and ostrich-feather gown in full view of passersby, creating a performance art piece that marked the launch of her collaboration with the luxury retailer. Over the course of the next six weeks, Barneys New York will display 26 looks from Guinness's archive of clothing, including 10 pieces created by McQueen—the subject of the Costume Institute's new exhibition—and pieces from Isabella Blow's collection.
To further publicize the marketing stunt, Guinness's appearance in the windows was projected onto the facade of the Madison Avenue store and simultaneously live-streamed to a dedicated Web site, thewindow.barneys.com.
