Saks Fifth Avenue Generation Mex catalog

I teamed up with a Senior Art Director to create a Saks Fifth Avenue spring preview catalog. The theme for the book was Mexico and it was shot throughout the colonial streets of San Miguel de Allende and on the beaches of Cuixmala.

I wrote the opening spread in the voice of a woman who is recounting her exotic journey through the country, which sets the mood for the entire catalog. I also created editorial copy for the opening spread of each section of the book.

Here are some editorial examples of what I wrote for the catalog I titled Generation Mex.

Saks Fifth Avenue Fall 2007 Want It! campaign (RAC 2008 Gold Winner)

Saks Fifth Avenue launches their bi-annual Want It! campaign every Fall and Spring. The multimedia campaign consists of the season's must-have fashion and beauty items for men and women.

For the Fall 2007 Want It! campaign I interviewed the Men's and Women's Fashion Directors, who established the trends. I created a "what", "where" and "how" format to easily describe each item to our customers. The trends were illustrated by artist Marian Bantjes.

Here are the opening spreads for both the Men's and Women's Fall 2007 Want It! catalogs. These descriptions appeared in newspaper and magazine advertising and on in-store z-fold handouts. Saks Fifth Avenue received the RAC 2008 Gold Medal Award for this multi-media campaign.

Saks Fifth Avenue Reel Beauty catalog

When I first started writing for the advertising/marketing departments at Saks Fifth Avenue the creative process was quite different then it is now. At that time the Art Directors would come up with a concept and the writers were asked to create copy that fit.

The Art Director for this project shot the catalog based on the theme of old Hollywood glamour. I then came up with the handle Reel Beauty and created film-inspired characters for each of the model beauty shots.

This concept was translated into in-store signage to support the event as well as newspaper advertising. Here are some examples of edits that I wrote for the Reel Beauty book.

Saks Fifth Avenue Ageless Beauty 101 catalog

The senior management at Saks Fifth Avenue decided that they wanted to take a new direction in beauty with a more educational, expert approach. I was asked to create this new voice in conjunction with the head of cosmetic merchandising and a Senior Art Director. We began the concept process together and saw it through every stage of the way.

The Cosmetic Merchandising Director came up with the concept of beauty at any age, the specific cosmetic/skincare/haircare/fragrance trends and their accompanying products. I then created the handle Ageless Beauty 101: A Saks How-To-Handbook and the names for each trend. To establish a unique voice for Saks which connects our beauty trends to what we saw on the runways, I interviewed Saks Fifth Avenue Fashion Director Michael Fink. And to position Saks as a beauty expert with insider tips and tricks for each of the trend related product, I interviewed celebrity makeup artist Charlie Green and renowned hairstylist Peter Butler.

This catalog was translated into event supporting in-store signage and newspaper advertising. The new direction was received with praise by those within Saks Fifth Avenue and by the beauty community at large. Here are some editorial spreads that I wrote.

Saks Fifth Avenue Beauty Secrets catalog

I teamed up again with the Cosmetics Merchandising Director and a Senior Art Director to create a beauty catalog that employed the expert voice I established for Saks Fifth Avenue. The head of beauty merchandising had the idea of beauty secrets, which would have different themes for each editorial spread. The information that was provided did not consist of any secrets, so I had to go back to the drawing board. I created brand new themes for each of the product groupings that had already been shot. At the 11th hour I had to request all new information and was able to generate some interesting beauty secrets.

The catalog was translated into in-store signage and print advertising which supported the very successful event. Here are some edits that I wrote.

Bloomingdale's bra fit campaign

Bloomingdale's had done their bra fit event for years and felt that their advertising wasn't as effective as it could be. I was asked to create a more compelling campaign and came up with a fun and flirty angle. Here are four postcards which I wrote for the event that were translated into newspaper ads, in-store signage and measuring tapes for the bra fit specialists. This campaign helped significantly increase event attendance and bra sales for Bloomingdale's.

Saks.com fashion trunk shows

The majority of what I wrote for saks.com was product copy, but for their exclusive trunk shows I had to opportunity to write editorial fashion copy. Here are two trunk shows, for Vince and Diane Von Furstenberg, that I wrote for the Saks Fifth Avenue website.

Bloomingdale's newspaper beauty ads

Bloomingdale's runs a lot of newspaper ads, particularly in The New York Times. When I was working for them, one of the most effective formats for cosmetics was the metro strip. These ads provided the opportunity for more editorial style copy than other ads and gave me the chance to explore my beauty voice. Here are two beauty metro strips that I wrote.