Very Bergdorf

On Fifth Avenue, between Fifty-Seventh and Fifty-Eighth Streets, a window display has cast its spell, promising surprise, wit, and glamour before the doors even open. Very Bergdorf, written by Wendy Goodman, moves through more than eighty defining moments in Bergdorf Goodman's history, from historic designer debuts to Fashion's Night Out and milestone anniversaries. Structured moment by moment, it lingers on shoes, evening wear, and jewels while making clear that Bergdorf's has always been more than a store. Its cover borrows the color of the store's own shopping bags, a nod to a building whose Fifth Avenue presence has grown rarer as retail landmarks disappear. Photographer Ricky Zehavi, long behind the lens of Bergdorf's windows, and firsthand quotes from Rihanna, Thom Browne, and Michael Kors bring its mythology into sharper focus. Very Bergdorf marks 125 years of an institution whose magic, as Goodman writes, only deepens once you step inside.