Breaking: Dennis Freedman to Step in as Creative Director at Barneys, Simon Doonan Promoted

Whoa. Whoa. Whhhhooooaaaaaaa. So it appears there are more shake-ups at Barneys. Simon Doonan is still at the company (thank God) but he has been promoted to the position of creative ambassador-at-large. Dennis Freedman, formerly of W magazine, will take over Doonan's place (and likely report to Doonan as well). It appears that Mark Lee, who was brought on as CEO last year, is not content to just come in and make nice with the existing staff. Instead, he clearly has a definitive and different vision of what the retailer can and should be, and is ousting mainstays (Julie Gilhart) while shuffling existing members of the staff and adding his own mix of comrades to help flesh out the corporate team. Regardless of financial troubles (the company filed for bancruptcy in 1996) Barneys is still seen as one of the top purveyors of high-end designer wares, while the (relatively) cheaper and youth-focused Co-op is seen as a place to discover new and exciting up-and-comers.