Bloomingdale's x Yinka Ilori: What is Just Imagine?
Bloomingdale's x Yinka Ilori is not your typical fashion collaboration. In the fall of 2025, the New York department store entrusted part of its 59th Street flagship in Manhattan to the British-Nigerian artist and designer to transform shopping into a cultural experience. The campaign has a name: Just Imagine.
Officially unveiled on September 4, 2025, it blends contemporary art, fashion, design, crafts, beauty, gaming, and experiential retail. The historic facade of Bloomingdale's, the Lexington Avenue storefronts, and its event space, The Carousel, have been reinterpreted by Yinka Ilori around an imaginary garden of wildflowers.
At the heart of the experience is Cherish Your Magic, an immersive installation where Ilori's colorful patterns meet exclusive clothing, Kartell furniture, Baccarat crystal, Bea Bongiasca jewelry, creative objects, and even a collaboration with PlayStation. Bloomingdale's is therefore no longer simply aiming to fill its floors with products.
The store wants to become a cultural destination.
Just Imagine is the major art campaign launched by Bloomingdale's for autumn 2025.
Its principle goes far beyond that of a capsule collaboration.
Bloomingdale's explains that it wants to transform its historic store into a place where fashion, art, and immersive storytelling meet. The retailer even describes its flagship store as a space resembling a dynamic museum.
This formulation says a lot about the current evolution of premium commerce.
The physical store must now offer something that e-commerce cannot fully replicate: a spatial, emotional, and social experience.
A dress can be ordered from a phone.
A monumental installation, a work that one walks through, a watercolor workshop or an interaction with an artist still require a place.
Bloomingdale's uses precisely this difference.
This evolution extends a transformation already analyzed on Luxe Daily: premium retail no longer functions solely as a transactional channel, but as a brand medium and generator of memories. Re-enchanting the retail experience through sales advisors.
Cherish Your Magic: Yinka Ilori transforms Bloomingdale's into a fantasy garden
Yinka Ilori's main intervention is entitled Cherish Your Magic. The artist transforms The Carousel space into an imaginary garden where flowers, organic shapes, sculptural hands and saturated colors occupy the walls and volumes.
The central metaphor is that of the wildflower. For Ilori, it sometimes grows in unexpected places, adapts to its environment, and still finds a way to bloom. He likens this resilience to the creative energy of New York and its inhabitants.
The scenography is not confined to the interior. The façade of Bloomingdale's and its famous Lexington Avenue windows are also adorned with the artist's floral motifs.
The desired effect is obvious: even before entering the store, the passer-by is already immersed in the world of the countryside.
Visual merchandising is becoming temporary architecture.
Who is Yinka Ilori?
Yinka Ilori is a British-Nigerian multidisciplinary artist and designerbased in London. His visual language draws on his dual cultural heritage, Nigerian stories and proverbs, as well as personal memories. His creations regularly use bold colors, geometric patterns, furniture, architecture, and public spaces to tell stories.
But reducing her work to color would be to miss the point. Ilori believes that art and design should be accessible to everyone. Her studio emphasizes the ability of creative spaces to foster encounters, participation, and a sense of community.
This philosophy explains the consistency of the association with Bloomingdale’s.
A department store, by definition, welcomes several populations, several generations, and several levels of relationship to fashion.
It is almost like an inner city.
For Ilori, it therefore becomes a natural area for intervention.
Bloomingdale's didn't just invite an artist: it gave him the store
This is one of the key differences compared to many artistic collaborations. The artist doesn't just design a series of products. Their visual language extends into the building itself.
Bloomingdale's entrusted it with its facade, its shop windows and its Carousel, while several interior spaces extended the campaign through installations, workshops and brand collaborations.
Ilori thus becomes a kind of temporary artistic director of theretail experience. This model is of particular interest to the luxury sector.
As major retailers seek to differentiate themselves from highly successful digital commerce, the physical store is regaining a cultural function. The same logic is evident in much more upscale projects. The new Hermès flagship on New Bond Street, for example, treats the boutique as a home), blending product, materials, architecture, and experience. Hermès London: the New Bond Street flagship redefines ultra-premium retail.
The scale is different. The logic is similar.
A New York-inspired wildflower garden
The scenography also has a direct relationship with the city. Ilori explains that he chose the wildflower for its ability to appear spontaneously, to adapt and to thrive in places that were not necessarily intended to accommodate it.
Bloomingdale's connects this idea to the residents of New York. The metaphor works particularly well in a city that values individuality, movement, and diversity. The Cherish Your Magic garden is therefore not merely decorative.
It allows for the expression of several essential concepts in Ilori's work: resilience, individuality, creativity, optimism, and community. In the language of retail, these values become narrative tools. Color attracts. Shape creates surprise. But it is the story that makes the experience memorable.
The Yinka Ilori x Bloomingdale's collection is much more than just clothing
The initial text referred to a fashion and home capsule collection. Bloomingdale's is offering, among other things, Cherish Your Magic cashmere sweaters, sweatshirts, T-shirts and pants, as well as a tote bag, art supplies, ping-pong equipment and various accessories. Home goods also feature prominently.
This includes a collaboration with Kartell on furniture and a limited edition of Baccarat, originally sold for $1,250 at Bloomingdale's. Retail plays a curatorial role here.
Bloomingdale's doesn't just sell "Yinka Ilori". The store organizes a network of collaborations between the artist and different houses, each with its own expertise.
Baccarat, Kartell, Bea Bongiasca: design becomes a cultural product
This approach is particularly interesting for the luxury sector. With Baccarat, Ilori applies its chromatic and graphic vocabulary to an object linked to crystal and tableware.
With Kartell, his imagination meets designer furniture. With the Italian designer Bea Bongiasca, he ventures into jewelry.
The campaign thus creates bridges between several professions. The object is no longer chosen solely for its function. It becomes the medium for a collective narrative associating artist, brand and distributor.
This logic aligns with the way contemporary luxury increasingly brings together art, craftsmanship, and desire. Luxury object: a symbiosis of art, craftsmanship, and desire.
The difference here lies in the scale: Bloomingdale's brings these worlds together under one roof.
Beauty also enters Yinka Ilori's universe
The project also touches on beauty. Bloomingdale's is announcing, in particular, an edition ofAugustinus Bader's The Rich Cream, a BYREDO travel kit, and candles created with Joya Studio in the artist's graphic universe.
This extension is significant.
Contemporary retail artistic collaborations are no longer necessarily built by category.
It operates through an emotional universe.
The customer can find the same story on a sweater, a chair, a vase, a skincare product or a candle.
Therefore, consistency no longer comes from the type of object.
She comes from the art direction department.
This is a familiar mechanism for major luxury brands that are gradually developing "brand worlds" capable of encompassing fashion, beauty, decoration, gastronomy and culture.
PlayStation x Yinka Ilori: Gaming enters the department store
One of the most surprising aspects of Just Imagine is the presence of PlayStation. The PlayStation x Yinka Ilori collaboration is officially integrated into the Carousel with the message: Play Brings Out The Joy.
It includes clothing, accessories, and merchandise reinterpreted from the artist's graphic universe. PlayStation 5 consoles, DualSense controllers, and audio equipment are also featured. This collaboration is strategic.
Video games allow Bloomingdale's to speak to a broader cultural audience than that of traditional ready-to-wear. They also reinforce the idea of play that is already omnipresent at Ilori.
The visitor is no longer merely a spectator of a setting.
He is invited to play, create and manipulate.
Gaming is thus becoming one of the components of cultural retail.
Why is the game so important in Yinka Ilori's strategy?
At Ilori, play is not simply a tool for children.
It functions as a method of creation.
Her own label explains that she develops objects, stationery, games and home products around the ideas of memory, meeting and playfulness.
This philosophy is directly reflected in Cherish Your Magic.
The collection includes ping-pong equipment, while the Carousel brings together creative objects and games.
The store experience then ceases to be entirely codified around the purchase.
You can go in, look around, play, draw, discover an artist and then possibly buy something.
The sales process becomes less direct.
And paradoxically, this reduction in transactional pressure can strengthen attachment to the place.
Happy Medium Art Café: order a creative activity like a coffee
Bloomingdale's takes this idea even further with the Happy Medium Art Café.
Located in the flagship store, the concept is presented as the first art café of its kind in New York.
The principle is intentionally simple: visitors can "order" an artistic experience like they would order a meal.
Among the activities announced are ceramic painting, watercolor painting, self-hardening clay sculpture, and the making of friendship bracelets.
We are very far from a traditional department store.
The visitor is no longer simply a consumer of a finished product.
He becomes a creator himself for a few minutes or a few hours.
This is a major evolution in experiential retail.
Open Studios: when DIY becomes a tool for attracting visitors
The campaign also includes various Open Studios spread throughout the store.
These spaces allow for the creation, personalization, or experimentation of creative practices.
DIY here has an indirect commercial function.
It increases the time spent in the store.
It promotes interaction.
It may encourage people to return with a loved one or a child.
It primarily transforms the store into a place where you can do something, rather than a space where you simply select merchandise.
This development intensifies competition between retail, entertainment, and culture.
The customer's time itself becomes the resource to be conquered.
A printing machine to transform art into an accessible souvenir
Among the most interesting activations are also the mini vending machines of works by Ana Inciardi.
The principle: insert four 25-cent coins to obtain a small linocut print, some editions of which are exclusive to Bloomingdale's.
The amount is negligible compared to the prices usually associated with the department store.
And that is precisely what makes the idea relevant.
Bloomingdale's offers an accessible, collectable cultural souvenirthat is unique enough to become a conversation starter.
Art is no longer simply displayed above products.
It enters the commercial journey at different price points.
Merchandising itself becomes an exhibition
Just Imagine also multiplies the installations carried out with brands such as Stone Island, Paul Smith, STAUD, VEJA, Rag & Bone, Maje or Cinq àSept.
Each activation gives the merchandising a narrative dimension.
Paul Smith, for example, works with the photographer Saul Leiter.
Stone Island highlights its dialogue with artist Nick Atkins.
Maje presents works by Claire Salvo.
Rag & Bone sets up its Design Studio and offers, among other things, denim customization.
The department store thus functions as a succession of micro-commercial exhibitions.
It's a way to fight against uniformity.
In an e-commerce site, all brands are constrained by a relatively similar screen architecture.
In store, each person can get their own scenography.
Craftsmanship is definitely present, but not exactly as in the original text
An important distinction needs to be made here.
The campaign highlights creativity, artistic gestures, personalization and several objects showcasing premium craftsmanship.
However, it does not officially present itself as a major event dedicated to traditional crafts.
Talking about craftsmanship can be relevant when discussing Baccarat, furniture, graphic design, customization, or manual activities.
But the heart of Just Imagine remains, above all, art, creativity and the retail experience.
This clarification avoids confusing craftsmanship, artistic practice, and commercial animation.
In France, the Ministry of Culture defines crafts as manual trades requiring specific technical skills, and officially lists them 281.
Using the term precisely strengthens editorial credibility.
Cultural retail is becoming a new tool for desirability
Bloomingdale's strategy is part of a much broader trend.
The shop no longer wants to simply be the place where a product is available.
She wants to become the place where the brand comes to life.
Art.
Architecture.
Gastronomy.
Design.
Meetings.
Customization.
Events.
All these elements give the visitor reasons to travel, even though the purchase itself could be made online.
This transformation is particularly visible in the luxury sector.
Prada, for example, is preparing a project in Milan that will bring together fashion, gastronomy, exhibitions, and brand heritage in a single setting. Prada Galleria in Milan: fashion, culture, and gastronomy
In New York, Bloomingdale's applies a similar logic on the scale of the department store.
The physical store becomes a destination
This shift is clearly evident in the words of Frank Berman, then Chief Marketing Officer of Bloomingdale's.
Just Imagine's stated goal is to make Bloomingdale's perceived not just as a store, but as a cultural destination.
The choice of words is revealing.
A "destination" implies that one goes there for its own sake.
People no longer come just because they need a pair of trousers or a perfume.
People come because there is something to see.
Something to talk about.
Something that may no longer exist two months later.
Events thus recreate a form of temporal scarcity.
The Carousel model allows Bloomingdale's to regularly change its theme
Cherish Your Magic is also part of a system already well established at Bloomingdale's: The Carousel.
This space regularly hosts temporary exhibitions.
Before Yinka Ilori, Bloomingdale's had, for example, installed Flamingo Estate there at the beginning of 2025. In January 2026, the retailer transformed the Carousel again around the cinematic universe of Wuthering Heights.
The principle is particularly effective.
The building remains the same.
But part of its identity changes regularly.
The flagship thus acquires a form of programming comparable to that of a cultural institution.
The consumer may return because the commercial exposure has changed.
Yinka Ilori had already thought about the future of retail
The collaboration with Bloomingdale's is all the more logical given that Yinka Ilori had already taken a direct interest in physical retail.
When opening his own pop-up in Shoreditch, London, he explained that he wanted to think about how stores can help consumers connect, experience and discover.
His approach to retail has therefore been based for several years on a conviction:
The shop can become a narrative and social space.
At Bloomingdale's, this reflection simply changes scale.
The small independent pop-up shop becomes one of the most famous department stores in the United States.
A British-Nigerian heritage that doesn't disappear behind marketing
One of the risks of collaborating with such a powerful retailer would be to smooth over the artist's work.
However, the essential codes of Ilori remain present.
Her use of color, patterns, positive affirmations, and storytelling is directly linked to her British and Nigerian heritage. Her studio explains that her work draws inspiration from Nigerian parables and oral traditions.
This cultural depth prevents Cherish Your Magic from becoming a mere "Instagrammable" backdrop.
The color is spectacular.
But it has a history.
Ilori also explains that her relationship with color and flowers comes in particular from her childhood and the influence of her family.
Joy then becomes a language, not simply a palette.
Luxury goods also seek this cultural accessibility
The success of Ilori's work lies in an interesting tension. Her collaborations can reach premium brands and companies, while her message insists on the idea that art must remain accessible.
This position reflects an evolution in contemporary luxury. Luxury brands continue to sell rare and expensive items.
But their cultural experiences often seek to reach a much wider audience: exhibitions, urban installations, cafes, bookstores, performances, or digital content. Culture becomes a gateway.
The product remains premium. The experience can be shared.
This mechanism allows a brand or retailer to gain a place in the minds of people who are not necessarily customers today.
A charity campaign for arts education? Not according to official sources
The original text stated that part of the campaign proceeds would be donated to local charities to support arts education. This statement should be removed.
Bloomingdale's official documents relating to Just Imagine go into great detail about the installations, products, events, artists and collaborations.
They do not mention a specific program for donating campaign proceeds to local arts education organizations.
This does not mean that Bloomingdale's has no philanthropic policy.
Parent company Macy's Inc. notes that Bloomingdale's participates in various social and environmental initiatives as part of its b the change.
But these general commitments should not be artificially attributed to Yinka Ilori or Just Imagine.
For SEO content post-June Update, this distinction is particularly important: less spectacular but verifiable information is better than a generous promise that is impossible to source.
Did Just Imagine have an impact on Bloomingdale's sales?
It is impossible to state that directly.
No public results allow us to isolate the economic effect of the Yinka Ilori campaign.
In contrast, 2025 was an excellent year for Bloomingdale's.
Macy's Inc. announced on March 18, 2026 a 6.3% increase in annual net sales for Bloomingdale's and a 7.4% increase in comparable sales.
In the fourth quarter, the brand's comparable sales increased by 9.9%, and the group cites its best holiday performance ever recorded.
It would be incorrect to interpret this progression as proof of Just Imagine's commercial success.
But these results show that Bloomingdale's strategy of experience, curation and increased desirability comes at a time when the brand is indeed gaining ground.
Is Bloomingdale's reinventing the department store?
The department store has a historical problem.
It must bring together dozens or hundreds of brands without losing its own personality.
The internet has further exacerbated this difficulty.
Why physically visit a retailer when each brand has its own website and several marketplaces can bring together the same products?
Just Imagine provides an answer.
Bloomingdale's is not just looking to own the product.
He seeks to possess the experience surrounding the product.
This is what transforms Yinka Ilori into a strategic partner.
Its flowers, colours and installations give the retailer a temporary identity that no brand present on the racks could produce on its own.
Fashion, art and commerce: an increasingly porous boundary
The French Ministry of Culture now classifies design among the cultural and creative industries and emphasizes its links with creation, research, and innovation. The related sectors of fashion and luxury are also included in this framework when they involve creative activities.
The Bloomingdale's campaign perfectly illustrates this hybridization.
Who actually produces the experience?
The artist?
The retailer?
Partner houses?
The set designers?
The craftsmen?
Fashion brands?
In reality, the value comes from their combination.
Trade ceases to be merely the last link in the chain.
It too becomes a place of creation.
Why does Bloomingdale's x Yinka Ilori work particularly well?
The strength of the collaboration lies in its level of coherence. Yinka Ilori likes to transform space.
Bloomingdale's has a huge space.
Ilori works with color and play.
Bloomingdale's is seeking a spectacular and participatory experience.
The artist advocates an accessible vision of creation.
The department store welcomes an extremely diverse public on a daily basis.
Finally, the idea of Cherish Your Magic allows you to link all the products without making them identical.
A Kartell chair and a cashmere sweater have nothing in common.
But they can belong to the same world.
This is precisely the ability sought by the best collaborations: to create coherence without creating monotony.
Bloomingdale's is turning shopping into content
Finally, there is another dimension: that of the image.
A facade covered in gigantic flowers.
Shop windows saturated with colors.
Monumental blue hands.
Interactive installations.
Everything is naturally photographable and shareable.
The store therefore produces its own social content.
Visitors become part of the broadcast.
This logic changes the economic calculation of the situation.
An ambitious scenography is no longer just seen by people passing through Lexington Avenue.
It can circulate on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and in the international press.
Physical space thus becomes an engine of digital content.
Will the future of premium retail be cultural?
Not exclusively.
Service, product availability, advice and operational efficiency remain essential.
A beautiful installation does not compensate for a bad shopping experience.
But when a retailer already masters the fundamentals, culture can become a powerful differentiating factor.
The French Directorate General for Enterprises identifiescustomer experience and new ways of producing and selling as major contemporary challenges for the fashion and luxury sector.
Bloomingdale's takes this logic to the extreme, turning the store into a stage.
The product remains there.
But he is no longer alone.
Bloomingdale's x Yinka Ilori: much more than autumn decorations
Reducing Just Imagine to a colorful campaign would ultimately be to miss the point.
Bloomingdale's uses Yinka Ilori to test another definition of the department store.
A place capable of selling cashmere, furniture or cosmetics, but also of hosting watercolor, gaming, works of art, DIY and monumental installations.
Trade is becoming more porous.
It engages in dialogue with the museum.
With the workshop.
With the playing field.
With coffee.
With the creative studio.
This is probably where the true modernity of Bloomingdale's x Yinka Ilori lies .
Not in the giant flowers themselves, but in what they signify: the physical store now seeks its value beyond the transaction.
And in this new retail environment, culture also becomes a loss leader — without necessarily being for sale.
FAQ: Bloomingdale's x Yinka Ilori
When was the Bloomingdale's x Yinka Ilori collaboration launched?
The Just Imagine campaign and the Cherish Your Magic installation were officially launched on September 4, 2025. The campaign ran in September and October 2025.
Where was Yinka Ilori's installation located?
The heart of the installation was located in The Carousel, at the Bloomingdale's flagship store on 59th Street in New York. Yinka Ilori also transformed the façade and storefront windows on Lexington Avenue.
What was the name of the installation?
The installation conceived by Yinka Ilori was called Cherish Your Magic. It was inspired by wildflowers, their resilience, and the creativity of New Yorkers.
What products were created with Yinka Ilori?
The collaboration included ready-to-wear clothing, cashmere sweaters, accessories, play items, art materials and collaborations with Kartell, Baccarat, Bea Bongiasca, Joya Studio and New Era.
Did Yinka Ilori collaborate with PlayStation at Bloomingdale's?
Yes. PlayStation x Yinka Ilori was part of Just Imagine with clothing, accessories and products inspired by her universe as well as a space showcasing PlayStation equipment.
Were creative workshops offered?
Yes. Bloomingdale's organized, among other things, experiments in ceramic painting, watercolor, clay modeling, bracelet making, personalization, and various Open Studios.
Did the campaign fund arts education?
The official sources consulted do not mention any specific donations from Just Imagine to arts education organizations. Bloomingdale's has broader philanthropic commitments, but these should not be confused with the Yinka Ilori campaign.
Who is Yinka Ilori?
Yinka Ilori is a British-Nigerian based in London. His work combines color, architecture, furniture, public art, and storytelling, with a strong influence from his British and Nigerian heritage.
Official French sources
- Directorate General for Enterprises – Fashion and Luxury Sector.
- Ministry of Culture – Design.
- Ministry of Culture – Crafts.
Primary sources of collaboration
- Bloomingdale's / Macy's Inc.
- Bloomingdale's – Cherish Your Magic.
- Yinka Ilori Studio.
