Blog: What Deficit?

At the same time that the battle lines were being drawn on both sides of the political aisle over the federal deficit, lines were also forming outside The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit, “Savage Beauty.” In the final days of the show, the excitement level rose to a wild crescendo, as the museum had to keep its doors open until midnight to accommodate the demand. When it was all said and done, 650,000 people visited the exhibit.

I paid my third visit to the show on the final Saturday night. The lines stretched as far south as 80th Street and north to 84th Street. After an hour on the rain-soaked sidewalk, there was another two-hour wait as the line snaked through the museum. It was 10 o'clock at night and there were more people in line to see the McQueen exhibit than I’ve ever seen lined up to see two shirtless guys in front of an Abercrombie store.

I walked away filled with the hope that we are beginning to overcome the cultural deficit.

The popularity of the McQueen exhibition drove a new demographic to the museum. As they eagerly awaited admission into the show, these visitors passed through thousands of years of art, such as ancient Cypriot carvings, excavated finds from Mesopotamia and 16th Century pottery from the Ming Dynasty.

You can also see an appreciation for art in our stores. While McQueen demonstrated that fashion crosses into the realm of art when it moves an emotion, there was a time when emotion was a key ingredient to successful visual merchandising. That was before it was blotted out by the ever-present rubber stamp. But alas, many of those stamps have run out of ink and, happily, stores are once again infusing emotion into their visual presentations and retail environments as they try to strike a responsive note in the psyche of their customers. Paul Olszewski at Macy's creates magic in his windows that move us. Anthropologie inspires us with its mastery of all things repurposed and recycled. Even the suppliers to our industry understand the need for an emotional connection. Have you ever left Rootstein's showroom without saying “wow”? And doesn't Ralph Pucci always take you to another place with his integration of art and merchandising?

As our leaders in Washington lick their wounds and prepare for yet another uncompromising fight, the citizens and consumers of this country uncompromisingly await the next great push of art and emotion.