While the 2023 Neiman Marcus Christmas Book is filled with luxury goods, the fantasy gifts this year indulge the travel bug that’s dominated spending of late. The one-of-a-kind experiences create what the Dallas-based retailer calls “your ticket to the extraordinary.”
The travel packages to the Paris Olympics, the Cannes Film Festival, and a yachting treasure hunt in Indonesia are just some travel featured in its 97th-holiday catalog that this year displays 147 luxury and designer brands in 200 pages.
An 80-page insert of fine jewelry is coming to life next week at a ball. Customers are flying in from all over to attend the Bejeweled Ball at Hotel Swexan in Dallas adding to the retailer’s focus to entertain customers with special events.
The big reveal of the fantasy gifts was in Los Angeles Tuesday night at the Sunset Tower Hotel where Neiman Marcus customers in attendance made a dreamy guest list of Hollywood celebrities and were entertained with a live musical performance by Leon Bridges who calls Fort Worth his home.
Notable attendees, dressed by Neiman Marcus, included actress Zooey Deschanel who is engaged to Jonathan Scott of HGTV’s Property Brothers, actor Simu Liu who most recently was one of the Kens in the Barbie movie, Quinta Brunson, creator and star of ABC’s hit Abbott Elementary and actress and singer Rainey Qualley, daughter of actress Andie MacDowell.
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(Stefanie Keenan / Getty Images for Neiman Marcus)
The fantasy gifts — a 64-year tradition started by Stanley Marcus Neiman Marcus — “make you dream a little bit bigger,” said Nabil Aliffi, chief brand officer at Neiman Marcus. “The fantasy gifts are a long-standing tradition and they’re there to inspire.”
The rest of the Christmas Book is about gifts at many prices, Aliffi said. “You get to know high jewelry but in the same breath, you can also get a Christmas tree or a stocking filler or the most incredible lipstick. No gift is more extraordinary. It’s personal. It’s what’s right for you.”
About 600,000 books go out this week. The Bejeweled insert is the first time that an event has been created around it. It’s also Aliffi’s first time working on the legendary catalog. He was hired in January from London-based Soho House & Co. where he was global chief creative officer and previously was the digital fashion director at Selfridges and creative director at Urban Outfitters.
He said he tried to weave in nostalgia by harkening back to the Neiman Marcus Express with photography on a train. The retailer actually had a store on a train that traveled to several cities in 1994. Some shots are at the Downtown Dallas Neiman Marcus.
To add to the unexpected, Aliffi said, a shot in the book (p. 87) is of a model in a sparkling Theory black gown sitting with three unnamed Dallas customers giggling over their lunch.
It’s a trip
Ralph Lauren, the official outfitter of Team USA at the Olympic Games next year, is Neiman Marcus’ partner for the Paris trip that costs $210,000. The nine-day adventure through the islands of Indonesia with Pelorus Yatching costs $485,000 and includes a $150,000 voucher to fill a treasure chest with Neiman Marcus jewelry at a beach party.
The car this year is a one-of-a-kind commissioned Cadillac Carmen Celestiq that costs $975,000 but that’s because it comes with a two-day experience in Detroit with Cadillac to tailor the car for the buyer.
Another trip is a collaboration with French fashion house Baccarat which starts in New York and ends in France where the $75,000 trip recipient will blow their own crystal. Another trip to France priced at $500,000 is to the Cannes Film Festival as a guest of Maison Chopard, the official sponsor of the event, and includes a piece of the luxury brand’s jewelry.
A four-day trip to Milan for $380,000 is with Nina Magon, one of the world’s most in-demand interior designers. She will design a space in your home.
There’s a trip to Burbank, Calif. to be featured as an animated character in a film created at Walt Disney Animation Studios for $510,000.
Another immersive fantasy gift puts a ballet dancer on the stage of the American Ballet Theatre’s 2024 summer season in New York. The one-night performance and related activities are priced at $195,000.
The fantasy gifts all include donations to related charities.
Retail outlook
Neiman Marcus’ decision to focus its fantasy gifts on travel comes in a year when luxury spending may be slowing ahead of the holiday season. Recent results from major European luxury fashion houses have been mixed.
Neiman Marcus fiscal year that ended in July was relatively flat to its 2022 when sales increased 33%. Margins were lower in its spring fiscal fourth quarter which is usually a clearance period, but more due to “a normalization of pent-up post-pandemic demand,” said Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck.
He said results were “in line with our expectations given the one-time actions we needed to take to clear our excess inventory and remain competitive in a highly promotional environment.”
Heading into the new fiscal year, van Raemdonck said earlier this month, “We remain confident in our strategy and the strength of our balance sheet with approximately $1 billion available liquidity, which allows us to make focused investments in our business to drive long-term sustainable growth.”
This year the company cut jobs and moved its Dallas corporate office into a smaller hybrid space at Cityplace, which retailer said lowered its headquarters costs by about 30%.
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