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American Morning

Cher, Cher Alike

Aired November 14, 2002 - 07:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The Santas, the elves and other traditional holiday window dressings are being left in storage this year at one big department store in New York City. This year, Barneys of New York is dressing up its seasonal displays with a tribute to a diva who has captivated the country for decades: Cher.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON DOONAN, BARNEYS CREATIVE DIRECTOR: This window shows the beginning of Cher's career. It's sort of full of all of that '60s optimism with a bit of a nod (ph) to the psychedelia.

The '70s was an incredible era for Cher. There's TV Cher and then after that came disco Cher.

In the '80s, Cher reinvented herself once again, and she really surprised everybody that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) by becoming a movie star.

The '90s was an interesting decade for Cher, starting off with "If I Could Turn Back Time."

This window is Cher now, and she's gone from being a diva to being a (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And if you are wondering who that voice belonged to, you're going to meet him right now. The official unveiling of the Barneys holiday windows is set for Saturday, and the designer who dreamed it all up is Simon Doonan, the store's creative director, and he joins us now from Barneys on the upper east side of Manhattan.

Good to see you -- happy holidays.

DOONAN: Happy holidays -- thank you for "Cherring."

ZAHN: We're going to take a little time. I'm glad (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you said that, for "Cherring." Why Cher?

DOONAN: Yes, well, we've got a different Cher in every window, because there's a different decade of Cher, and everybody loves Cher. There's the disco Cher, Vegas Cher, movie star Cher. There's so many facets of Cher that we thought she was a great subject for our holiday windows.

ZAHN: Now, you've got to be real detail-oriented when you look into these windows when they're finally unveiled. Tell us about the lengths you went to, to stuff these windows full of things that related to the '70s, the '80s and the '90s.

DOONAN: Yes, each window is chock full of Cherobilia (ph) all of the aspects of Cher -- Cher's costumes, which were designed by Bob Mackie.

In the movie window, we have every movie represented from "Silkwood" to "Suspect" to "Moonstuck," where she won an Oscar. And we have the two dresses that she wore, one where she was presenting an Oscar and one when she was receiving an Oscar.

Each window is chock full of stuff. We even have bagels from Bob Camilletti.

ZAHN: Now, he was one of her boyfriends that sold bagels? Is that what the tie in there?

DOONAN: Yes. Cher's love live -- Cher is very generous to her fans. She tells her fans everything about her life, so we've all followed her love life over the years from Sonny right through to Gene Simmons and Greg Allman and then to Rob Camilletti, who is a sort of controversial one, because he was such a young guy and he worked in a bagel shop. In a way, she's -- that's why people love her. She's been very open about her private life, and she's "Cherred" a lot with everybody.

ZAHN: You can't get that word "Cher" in there enough this morning.

What does Cher think about all of this? Have you told her what you've been up to, and does she plan to come see the windows that pay homage to her legacy?

DOONAN: Cher is very excited about the windows, but she's on a 100-city tour. It was 50 gigs, but then it was so popular that she's added on 50 dates. So, she's a very busy girl right now.

ZAHN: Well, I have to say, Simon, every year, you outdo yourself. The windows are always fantastic. But I do have to say there's one bad thing about all of that, and there's always a traffic jam outside Barneys, because people are lined up to see the windows. And I guess that's exactly what you want again this year, isn't it?

DOONAN: Exactly. We want people to "Cher" in events here. Sorry for the puns.

ZAHN: That's fine. We love puns at this hour of the morning. Again, congratulations. Simon Doonan, appreciate your "Cherring" your artistry with us, and once again, those windows are unveiled I guess this weekend.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired November 14, 2002 - 07:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The Santas, the elves and other traditional holiday window dressings are being left in storage this year at one big department store in New York City. This year, Barneys of New York is dressing up its seasonal displays with a tribute to a diva who has captivated the country for decades: Cher.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON DOONAN, BARNEYS CREATIVE DIRECTOR: This window shows the beginning of Cher's career. It's sort of full of all of that '60s optimism with a bit of a nod (ph) to the psychedelia.

The '70s was an incredible era for Cher. There's TV Cher and then after that came disco Cher.

In the '80s, Cher reinvented herself once again, and she really surprised everybody that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) by becoming a movie star.

The '90s was an interesting decade for Cher, starting off with "If I Could Turn Back Time."

This window is Cher now, and she's gone from being a diva to being a (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And if you are wondering who that voice belonged to, you're going to meet him right now. The official unveiling of the Barneys holiday windows is set for Saturday, and the designer who dreamed it all up is Simon Doonan, the store's creative director, and he joins us now from Barneys on the upper east side of Manhattan.

Good to see you -- happy holidays.

DOONAN: Happy holidays -- thank you for "Cherring."

ZAHN: We're going to take a little time. I'm glad (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you said that, for "Cherring." Why Cher?

DOONAN: Yes, well, we've got a different Cher in every window, because there's a different decade of Cher, and everybody loves Cher. There's the disco Cher, Vegas Cher, movie star Cher. There's so many facets of Cher that we thought she was a great subject for our holiday windows.

ZAHN: Now, you've got to be real detail-oriented when you look into these windows when they're finally unveiled. Tell us about the lengths you went to, to stuff these windows full of things that related to the '70s, the '80s and the '90s.

DOONAN: Yes, each window is chock full of Cherobilia (ph) all of the aspects of Cher -- Cher's costumes, which were designed by Bob Mackie.

In the movie window, we have every movie represented from "Silkwood" to "Suspect" to "Moonstuck," where she won an Oscar. And we have the two dresses that she wore, one where she was presenting an Oscar and one when she was receiving an Oscar.

Each window is chock full of stuff. We even have bagels from Bob Camilletti.

ZAHN: Now, he was one of her boyfriends that sold bagels? Is that what the tie in there?

DOONAN: Yes. Cher's love live -- Cher is very generous to her fans. She tells her fans everything about her life, so we've all followed her love life over the years from Sonny right through to Gene Simmons and Greg Allman and then to Rob Camilletti, who is a sort of controversial one, because he was such a young guy and he worked in a bagel shop. In a way, she's -- that's why people love her. She's been very open about her private life, and she's "Cherred" a lot with everybody.

ZAHN: You can't get that word "Cher" in there enough this morning.

What does Cher think about all of this? Have you told her what you've been up to, and does she plan to come see the windows that pay homage to her legacy?

DOONAN: Cher is very excited about the windows, but she's on a 100-city tour. It was 50 gigs, but then it was so popular that she's added on 50 dates. So, she's a very busy girl right now.

ZAHN: Well, I have to say, Simon, every year, you outdo yourself. The windows are always fantastic. But I do have to say there's one bad thing about all of that, and there's always a traffic jam outside Barneys, because people are lined up to see the windows. And I guess that's exactly what you want again this year, isn't it?

DOONAN: Exactly. We want people to "Cher" in events here. Sorry for the puns.

ZAHN: That's fine. We love puns at this hour of the morning. Again, congratulations. Simon Doonan, appreciate your "Cherring" your artistry with us, and once again, those windows are unveiled I guess this weekend.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.