Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1078587
BAL HARBOUR 61 Stanley Whitman founded Bal Harbour Shops more than five decades ago, bringing European luxury to Miami and paving the way for an entirely new concept of fashion. Theater of Shopping, out this February from Rizzoli, is a celebration of Whitman's life and legend. BY NICOLE MARTINEZ "THEATER OF SHOPPING IS TRULY A STORY about a man and his creation," says Matthew Whitman Lazenby, the president and CEO of Bal Harbour Shops and grandson of Stanley Whitman—the visionary who founded the Shops in 1965. "It's as much about one as it is the other." Written by Alastair Gordon, Theater of Shopping weaves together Whitman's personal and family history with real estate, fashion and the social and economic forces of the 20th century to tell a behind-the-scenes story of the early days of the now-iconic luxury enclave, while celebrating the man who made it all happen. Whitman spent his childhood on Collins Avenue, watching wÀÃÌ>` >Ã > Ü>Ã ÌÀ>ÃvÀi` vÀ > ÀÕ}>`ÌÕLi tropical outpost into the global cultural destination it is today. 7Ì>Ü>ÃivÌiwÀÃÌÌÀiV}âiÌi«ÌiÌ>vÌi concurrent burgeoning of air travel and American suburbs in order to entice the most selective shoppers to a modern destination with both fashion and experience at the forefront. Underlying his vision from the outset was the importance of architecture. "Design," explains writer and director Matthew Tyrnauer in the book's introduction, "would determine the quality of the shopping experience." £x{]7Ì>ÃiÌÕÌÜ>ÌÜÕ`LiViÌiwÀÃÌv many research expeditions to realize the transformation of the 16 acres of swampland that today are the site of Bal Harbour Shops. He traveled from Fifth Avenue to the Champs-Élysées to the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, which, set in a similarly tropical setting A MAN OF VISION Stanley Whitman at the opening of the new Versace boutique in 1991. COURTESY OF WHITMAN FAMILY ARCHIVES