Barneys New York celebrated Paris Fashion Week Men’s by posting some racy Instagram art on Thursday night.
The department store’s menswear account, @Barneysman, partnered with Creative Partners artist Doug Abraham for “Seeing Stars,” an Instagram-only look book featuring Givenchy’s menswear collection.
Viewers can shop the ready-to-wear collection by Riccardo Tisci on Barneys through a link in the Instagram bio, using shopping platform Like 2 Buy.
Givenchy doesn’t sell its own collections on its website; its site primarily has product info and information on the fashion house. Would-be shoppers are directed to the retailer’s mobile app.
The Givenchy images are a provocative departure from Barneys’ usual menswear feed (which has 71,000 followers), showing men modeling Givenchy’s spring collection, cut and digitally combined with background images of men with their arms and legs tied up with rope and tape in various positions. Barneys’ usual Instagram approach is tame: assorted product shots mixed with behind-the-scenes looks at fashion shoots and clothing racks.
Abraham, who’s known on social media as @bessnyc4, has been kicked off of Instagram three times in the past for posting racy content to his own account. The fashion community has embraced him, though: he’s worked with Calvin Klein and Marc Jacobs and in 2014, received the CFDA’s first Instagrammer of the Year award.
Barneys’ decision to post the content on Instagram was a way to maintain the more traditional brand of the retailer’s online publication, The Window. The magazine, which features fashion editorials and interviews and lives on Barneys’ site, instead ran an interview with Abraham regarding the look book collection.
Jay Bell, head of men’s designer clothing at Barneys, said he found Abraham’s Instagram account “genius.”
“I think this is just such a coup and so exciting,” Bell said.
