Bloomingdale’s to Launch “From Italy, With Love”

Bloomingdale’s (New York) has detailed plans for the upcoming two-month run of “From Italy, With Love,” a tie-in with that country’s famed Salone del Mobile.Milano trade fair. Starting Sept. 5, the Bloomingdale’s event “will immerse shoppers in the unparalleled beauty of Italian fashion, design, cuisine and culture, featuring over 300 exclusive products from 150-plus partners, and the introduction of over 30 new brands,” the luxury retailer said in a news release.

The promotion’s kick-off will include the Lexington Avenue façade of its flagship store in New York being made over to resemble Italy’s Amalfi Coast, along with immersive shops, installations and pop-ups on every floor of the 59th Street store.

The flagship store will also host a special exhibition showcasing products from 23 renowned Italian brands, all exhibitors of Salone del Mobile.Milano. Hired to curate the installation was architect Ferruccio Laviani, who drew on artist Giorgio de Chirico’s metaphysical piazzas to create the installation.

In its coverage of the event, Women’s Wear Daily reported that “From Italy, With Love” in some ways “seems a throwback to the era of Marvin Traub, the late former chairman and CEO of Bloomingdale’s, who through the ’70s and ’80s energized the selling floors (mostly at the 59th Street flagship) with a long string of exotic import promotions from different countries and regions of the world; some were extremely successful at drawing huge crowds and bumping up sales, while a few others were money losers.”

Merchandise associated with the promotion will be available at all the chain’s stores, as well as online.