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Miami as a popular destination. Gianni Versace fell in love with the unbridled spirit and decadent subculture that was transforming South Beach from a sad retirement ghetto into an Art Deco Wonderland. He never did make it to Cuba during that Christmas visit, but checked into the Fontainebleau Hotel and proceeded to discover the nightlife of Ocean Drive. “All the right people are here,” he told a friend while strolling down the street on a Saturday evening, inspired by the sub-tropical climate and vibrant, if somewhat seedy, demimonde of young artists, models, hustlers, drag queens, cocaine cowboys, and party boys who cruised Ocean Drive and hung out at night spots like the Paragon and Warsaw Ballroom. “There have been very few times in my life when I have found a place so exceptionally receptive towards diverse ways of living and where it is possible to breathe both creativity and energy,” said Versace, who would compare Miami in the 1990s to Saint-Tropez in the 1950s.223 During that same 1991 visit, Gianni discovered and purchased an old building on the corner of Ocean Drive and 11th Street and transformed it into a 13,500-square-foot winter party palace called Casa Casuarina. It was decorated in what one journalist described as “Gay Baroque,” with frescos, stained glass windows, ornate chandeliers, marble bathrooms, a famous pool tiled with elaborate mosaics, and gilt antique furniture reupholstered in Versace fabrics. 224 Bal Harbour’s new Versace store became an overnight success and celebrity magnet. Cher and Elton John were regular customers. “Elton John comes in and buys the whole store—he’s known for that,” said one salesman.225 Madonna was also spotted buying a pair of bright red fireman s pants. ales increased 1 percent during the first year and soared higher after that. A plain t-shirt cost while a pair of jeans was $1,200 and the signature print shirts in silk mosaic patterns with twisting vines, gold medallions, and mythological beasts went for $2,500. Leather purses with Medusa-head details were also popular at $1,900, as were black, bejeweled cat suits and spandex leggings printed with Marilyn Monroe’s face. The store at Bal Harbour was always in the top three sales-per-square-foot at the mall. t became a showcase for the flamboyant new ersace look that was, in turn, inspired by the exotic colors and wild nightlife of south Miami. In 1992, Gianni designed a special Miami Collection with light-silk fabrics in hot hues that incorporated prints of palm trees, 1950s Cadillacs, Art Deco architecture, and other local themes. Versace’s spring/summer 1993 collection was called “MIAMI” and featured cool silks, cottons, and linens with the title woven into the vivaciously colored patterns. “This particular slice of Florida caught my imagination not only for its folklore and colors but for its enormous surge of energy and vigor,” said Gianni of his new collection.226 Once the high-design theme had been set with the likes of Gucci and Versace, things continued to escalate at Bal Harbour Shops as part of an “ongoing strategy for more and more exclusivity,” according to Randy Whitman, to aggressively raise standards, refine the “mi ,” bring greater profits and transform the center into what one local journalist called a “centrifuge of chic.”227 European brands moved in, as lesser performing stores were culled. Baron’s men’s shop left the mall to make way for Bulgari. The mid-market Brass Boot was replaced by Diego Della alle with high-end talian shoes. Caf Tulip took over the old Caf L Ambiance spot and featured French cuisine by Chef Doug Zitz.228 Besides Versace, there was Nina Ricci, the sixty-year-old French fashion
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ABOVE:
Fashion illustrations by Versace OPPOSITE:
Miami-themed scarves for Versace Jeans Couture, 1993 PAGES 230–231:
Spread from Versace’s book, South Beach Stories, featuring his Miami collection, 1993 (photo by Doug Ordway)
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shaded from the sun by slatted plantation shutters in place of canvas canopies. The shutters leaned out at an angle and brought a sense of domestic scale and intimacy that was tropical in feeling while retaining the modernist edge of the original Herb Johnson architecture. Railings, columns, and shutters were painted black, while walls and ceilings were white to offset the vibrant green hues of the foliage. Hampton also designed rooftop parking over the three westernmost buildings and Saks Fifth Avenue, adding another 187 spaces (and a parking index of 4.3). There were only two pedestrian crossings on the second level and landscape architect Taft Bradshaw, who started working on a new plan for the center in 1984, wanted to manipulate the views, so he used orange trees planted in large cylindrical pots to draw attention upwards and break the monotony of the space. (The orange trees would later be replaced by Ligustrum bushes.) “We wanted people to look up from the ground and see the plants and be excited to go up there and discover it for themselves,” said Bradshaw, who had been brought in to update the entire landscaping plan. All of this delighted Whitman, since his biggest concern was making the second level as desirable as the first. The black railings were softened by pink Bougainvillea blossoms cascading down. “I wanted one layer to blend into another,” said Bradshaw. “I wanted to treat every edge as a vegetated edge.” The Phase Two expansion went smoothly, for the most part. Some of the tenants on the first level complained about noise and dust from the construction and there was at least one crisis when the foreman got caught padding his bills to the tune of $1 million. Eva Ferro came all the way from Venezuela to shop at Bal Harbor Shops and found herself having to step around cement mixers and temporary plywood barriers to reach her favorite shops. “Shirtless men, grimy with dust, mingle with the mink-and-diamond set,” wrote one journalist, describing the scene. “The hush of elegance is gone.”196 While construction did cause some inconvenience for merchants and shoppers during the eighteen months it took to complete the $25-million expansion, the irony was that business in the mall actually went up, according to Stanley Whitman, who believed that all of the fuss was worth it. “The whole idea is to make it better.”197 or all intents and purposes, the e pansion doubled the si e of his mall, adding fifty
OPPOSITE:
The second level of Bal Harbour Shops opens, 1986, Mark Hampton, architect ABOVE:
Cartoon advertisement, c. 1987 RIGHT:
Rendering of second level, Mark Hampton, architect
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new stores as well as parking for an additional 450 cars. The expansion created a GLA (Gross Leasable Area) of over 450,000 square feet and helped to keep Bal Harbor Shops the leading shopping center in the world. Two glass elevators and an escalator were installed in the mall and landscaping throughout was enhanced. “The second level becomes another act in the Bal Harbour theater of gracious shopping,” wrote one journalist, who was duly impressed with the results.198 To keep up with the expanding footprint, Whitman attempted to create a more convenient and capacious entry at the north end of the center (via Bal Cross Drive, off Collins Avenue), but failed due to opposition from Mayor John Sherman. After so much effort, however, the Whitmans found it difficult, almost impossible, to convince new tenants to open their stores on the second level malls. “We had about twenty merchants waiting to get into the mall, but there wasn’t any more room on the first level,” said Randy Whitman. “And no one wanted to go up on the second level.” Some reacted as if they were being exiled to outer Siberia, and when Randy Whitman attempted to convince Aldo Gucci to move his store and lure others along with him, Gucci just stared at him with incomprehension and refused to go.199 “Very few believed it could work, especially the Europeans. They wouldn’t touch it,” said Randy Whitman, who recalls that when he showed a spacious, second-level space to Bernard Beylerian, who had a successful menswear store in Paris, Beylerian got up and walked out the door.200 This was a serious problem, but the Whitmans were reluctant to bring in lower-end stores like those of the Limited group. They preferred to leave empty spaces rather than compromise their standards. Accordingly, the Whitman’s marketing strategy changed. The second level would now be directed towards a younger urban consumer, with more flamboyant decor and more casual styles of clothing. “The eighty-store, two-level mall has picked a new target: the young and the not-as-affluent,” reported Laurie Baum in the Miami Herald in 1984.201 “We already have the high end: Cartier, Gucci and Ted Lapidus,” said Randy Whitman. “The only logical direction is the younger customer, who has slightly different tastes.”202 Matters weren’t helped by the dismal state of the economy. The worst period of recession hit during the final months of 1982, when the nationwide unemployment rate rose to 10.8 percent, the highest since the Great Depression, and even Bal Harbour Shops was feeling the effects. Sales at the Guy Laroche boutique, for instance, declined slightly while sales at Courrèges were flat for the first time
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THIS PAGE:
Directional signage around the mall OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE:
View from stairwell; stairwell to parking lot; first floor stairs around reflecting pool; view through plantation blinds to the central courtyard
Continuity
THEATER OF SHOPPING The Story of Stanley Whitman’s Bal Harbour Shops By Alastair Gordon Foreword by Matt Tyrnauer Afterword by Matthew Whitman Lazenby
Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. 300 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10010 www.rizzoliusa.com
ISBN: 978-0-8478-6282-5 $65 Hardcover 9.5 x 12.65 inches 272 pages 360 illustrations Rights: World
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