Ga Ga for Gaga: Lady Gaga's Workshop at Barney's NY

So last week I went to see Lady Gaga's Workshop on the 4th Floor of Barney's NY. A brilliant collaboration between the retailer and the entertainer selling Gaga-designed accessories from bubble bath to iPad cases. 25% of the proceeds goes towards charity so customers can feel good about overspending on tchotchkes.

The floor is supposed to be an interpretation of "Santa's Workshop" but is probably more reminiscent of "Beetlejuice's Workshop." The floor design leads you effortlessly through merchandise and allows the consumer to explore while weaving through passage ways and tables of trinkets that you don't need but you want to possess anyway.

The collaboration was brilliantly displayed on boutique bags and in the store windows along Madison Avenue. You couldn't help but want to go through the Gaga archway on East 60th Street with the excitement of a kid entering an amusement park.

From a retail standpoint, Barney's brought excitement to the holiday retail space through a well-timed collaboration, selling merchandise at an affordable price point ($15 Light Up Yo Yo) that would make perfect stocking-stuffers, while aligning with a cause (The Born This Way Foundation). The website they built is engaging and I'm sure this will prove to be a very successful holiday season for them.  I know that I went to Barney's to see the Gaga Workshop and left the store with a new coat in tow!