Bloomingdale’s Names Kelley Carter Fashion Director for Home
Kelley Carter has joined Bloomingdale’s as home fashion director, with responsibilities for leading trend forecasting and discovering new resources across home textiles, housewares, tabletop, furniture and luggage.
“Kelley has an incredible eye for design,” said Kevin Harter, Bloomingdale’s vice president of integrated marketing and fashion direction.
Carter will collaborate with Bloomingdale’s merchant and marketing teams “to bring trends to life via a curated product assortment in-store and online, and visually on Bloomingdale’s marketing channels and in our store windows,” Harter added.
She reports to Harter and succeeds Joe Weiner, who in June joined Herman Miller and its HAY division.
“One of the reasons I am so excited to join Bloomingdale’s is that we are the only high-end retailer with such an extensive offering of home and lifestyle products curated from a fashion perspective — from furniture to candles to cookware,” said Carter. “This has always been an advantage for the brand, but now that we’re seeing ‘nesting’ as a major trend due to the pandemic, we have a unique opportunity to provide customers with everything they need for their homes.
“I’m still getting to know the Bloomingdale’s customer, but from my perspective, our shopper wants the highest quality home product with a luxury or fashion twist,” added Carter. “Right now the biggest wants are linens, home fragrance, kitchen electrics and cookware — things that make the home more comfortable and luxurious during this time of uncertainty. That means Frette and Matouk linens and Nespresso coffee machines, but also unique products like an Ooni pizza oven.”
Carter has a background in editorial, interior styling and design. She has conceptualized and designed interior spaces for brand activations and the entertainment industry, in addition to prop styling for brand campaigns and market work for publications. Most recently she consulted and created content, images and spaces for retail and apparel clients. Previously, she held editorial roles at O, the Oprah Magazine, O at Home, Real Simple and Refinery29.
Bloomingdale’s other fashion directors are Arielle Siboni, ready-to-wear; Marissa Galante Frank, beauty, shoes and accessories including handbags, fine jewelry, shoes and fashion accessories, and Justin Berkowitz, men’s apparel, shoes and accessories.
In recent years, fashion directors seem to be less visible and to have lost sway within store organizations as retailers sought to cut costs. However, at Bloomingdale’s, fashion directors have gained ground.
“Back in February, we integrated the fashion team into marketing to collaborate closer on creative, media, events, curated shops and pop ups,” Harter explained. “The fashion team is also aligned with the head merchants. So it’s really a strong collaboration between merchants and marketing and the fashion directors who move really easily between the two divisions. They are leading collaborations and they bring a lot of creativity to both sides.”
Home, Harter added, “is a differentiator for our brand. It’s an ever-evolving luxury business across all home categories, from tabletop to housewares, bedding to furniture.” Bloomingdale’s is considered the nation’s only truly full-line, upscale department store. The store’s home business accounts for roughly a quarter of the total volume, sources said. Harter would not confirm that figure.
Key linen brands at Bloomingdale’s include Coyuchi, Frette, Bloomingdale’s private Hudson Park brand, Marimekko, Matouk, Missoni, Sferra and Yves Delorme.
Key tabletop brands include Baccarat, Bernadaud, L’Objet, Lalique, Royal Copenhagen, Versace and Waterford.
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