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Barneys goes green; hedgehogs beware
Nov 27, 2007
I recently noticed that Barneys New York, the high-end retailer, has some new slogans for the season: "Have a Green Holiday." "Join the green revolution, we have!" "Give good green."
Barneys' current offerings include organic cotton T-shirts, scarves handknit from "free range alpaca yarn," and various jewelry that promise "a portion of the proceeds" for deserving nonprofits.
I found out about all this from the Barneys print catalog, with 93 full-color pages (and adhesive binding). To Barneys' credit, the catalog uses "soybean-based inks" and "30% post-consumer waste material"; on the other hand, it arrived unsolicited, which means many of these catalogs, green as they are, will go straight to the landfill, unread.
My main reaction, though, came from page 5, which advertises the Goyard St. Louis Shopper Tote, a "100% recyclable" canvas bag "made from natural materials." Presumably, carrying this bag up Madison Avenue shows the world how committed one is to environmental causes; all at the mere cost of $1,065.
When canvas totes sell for over a thousand bucks, and Barneys colors its slogan green, you know we've turned a corner somewhere. Being good, doing good, creating good become not so much a mission as just another trend to watch in the consumer market - as it appears, gains cachet, then inevitably falls out of favor. That's the thing with fashionable trends: they always come to an end.
Back in the 7th century BC, the Greek poet Archilochus offered this wisdom: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one great thing." (Isaiah Berlin later drew on that thought in his famous essay The Hedgehog and the Fox.) The pattern continues to play out today, even in the business of green luxury catalogs.
Foxes are agile and clever enough to jump onto any passing opportunity - and, of course, jump off when the time is right. Hedgehogs hold fast to one central belief, through ups and downs, through all seasons. Foxes are more attractive - they're "foxy," after all, and who would want to be called "hedgehoggy"? But hedgehogs are more loyal, reliable, authentic, and I'd guess longer-lived. I sure hope so, anyway, since I'm a hedgehog myself. (My "one thing" is a belief in authentic good experience.)
So where does this leave the "green revolution"? For the moment the foxes and hedgehogs are united in spreading the word, selling the idea. But when, not if but when, the fashionable green trend fizzles, and companies like Barneys move on to the next brand image, only the hedgehogs will remain to carry the work forward.
Thus goes the life of a hedgehog in any trendy environment... like, for example, an industry in dire need of customer-centric thinking.
I know exactly what you mean, and I find it troubling: green "branding" at the same time that our government not only doesn't come out with serious regulation, but stands in its way - with, for example, the EPA being sued by California and sixteen other states for blocking their attempts to limit greenhouse gases at the state level . . .
Something tells me this may not be the most promising approach.
The alternative outcome to a trend fizzling is the trend fading from sight as it becomes integrated into the mainstream and taken for granted as the new standard (eg: URLs on billboards). I hope and believe this will be the case with green design.
As for customer-centric thinking, I believe we're still in a very early stage of public awareness, and not nearly as well-known as green design. However, all signs point to increasing attention being paid to user experience (evidenced by radical increases in related job postings, many articles about innovative Apple products and the success of NetFlix, etc.). I suspect the dedicated hedgehogs will do quite well as senior, experienced practitioners when the steep part of the sigmoidal curve hits.
The reason why being green is now a trend is because reality has made us pay attention to it. Unlike things like striped tube socks, pet rocks, and bell bottoms, the green movement is in response to changes in reality, both economic and social. Granted, the social aspects may change: it may become less fashionable to be "green."
However, it seems unlikely that it will become unfashionable to save money. Economists, governments & businesses are beginning to incorporate the environment, real costs of energy (financially, politically & environmentally) into their P&L and measurements of GDP -- something that hardly seems fashionable. To me, it just sounds rational.
Of course, oil could drop to $15/barrel and we'll be having this conversation 15 years from now in a gondola, rowing though the beautiful canals of lower Manhattan. Hopefully not, though.
I'm choosing to find the new "green trend" encouraging. The fact that companies like Barneys are emphasizing green initiatives and selling pricey "green" handbags means that there is a lot of demand out there.
Very few big companies will jump on a bandwagon unless they see potential in it, and even Walmart is joining in with their organic veggies.
This might only be the latest fad for those companies, but it's bound to have good results. There are tons of opportunities now for eco-friendly products, and the desire for them will only create more.
Dismissal opinions of the motivation of big companies aside, I think this is a good path to be on.
It's called "Greenwashing" Mark. Corporations using green marketing to capitalize on people's environmental fears. I'm really concerned that greenwashing will become so fashionable that after a while people will think being green is just a fad. Ultimately hindering positive environmental policy. I try to remind people that "being green" is more about efficiency, sustainability, & quality of life as opposed to fashion or (liberal) politics. Thanks for pointing out Barney's silliness.
What is troubling me with all these companies that are advertising going green and supporting green design is that when you research more on their store design you notice that they do not practice it themselves. I have heard that Barney's is shipping their fixtures for thier new store design from China!!
Yes the fixtures are great looking but how do you justify the transportation of these fixtures from China and the green advertising that they do?
You should try to hook up with Bruce Sterling and discuss this in terms of his Viridian Design meme.
http://webseitz.fluxent.com/wiki/z2007-12-03-HurstGreenFadBacklash
Hi Mark,
I went to see the merchandise presentation of green at Barney's. While it is a beautiful set up with some cool design elements, I was disheartened by the fact that it is just very nice looking wallpaper. And next year, they'll be on to something else, seeing their green campaign as nothing but a passing fad. They're only interested in turning profit, and if jumping on the green bandwagon does that, they're happy to do it. There's a huge difference between creating a parade with good intentions and just getting in front of it because they can afford to.