The Shophound

TODAY IN MOVIE CROSS-PROMOTIONS: Brooks Brothers Joins The Gatsby Blitz

In case you haven't turned on your TV for the past month, Baz Luhrmann's upcoming movie adaptation of "The Great Gatsby" is being marketed like it's the next big Superhero movie. We haven't seen any Daisy or Gatsby action figures yet, but we wouldn't be surprised to see them before May 10 when the movie opens. Instead, however there are any number of other marketing initiatives under way including one at Brooks Brothers, a retailer not known for jumping on the promotional bandwagon. In this case, the collaboration is actually a natural no-brainer. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald often mentioned the store in his work, and worked with the film adaptation's costume designer Catherine Martin to produce all of the men's wardrobe for the film, which included literally hundreds of costumes, many of them re-created from the store's archives. To celebrate (and promote) the movie, Brooks Brothers and Martin have launched The Gatsby Collection, a capsule menswear line inspired by the film's style which is available in select locations and online. While the club collar shirts and deco-jacquard ties say Jazz Age, the slimmed down clothing silhouettes are decidedly contemporary, so customers and fans won't be walking around town looking quite like film extras. The chain's Madison Avenue flagship has presented it in its own shop on the main floor along with a special viewing area to watch the films trailer, In fact, the whole floor has been given a glitzy dose of deco including a mirrorball and a display of some of the film's actual costumes. Stop by the store over the next few weeks to see some appropriately lavish outfits including some glittery women's costumes that, may not be totally period-correct, but are impressively evocative and amusingly sparkly nonetheless.

This isn't the only retail initiative you'll see concerning the movie. Our friends at Racked discovered the ornately detailed Gatsby windows at Tiffany & Co. which also has worked with Luhrmann and Martin on the film and a collection of jewelry it inspired. Fogal hosiery, MAC Cosmetics, Moët & Chandon and even the Plaza Hotel are also collaborating to promote the movie. Whether it's a hit or not will up to ticket buyers, but it looks like the Roaring 20s will be all over the city until it opens.

Have a look at Brooks Brothers' Gatsby Collection HERE, and click through our gallery below to get a look at the installations in the Madison Avenue store.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

 

BIGGER AND BETTER: J. Mendel Moves Up For A Bigger Boutique On Madison

After 18 years in a comfortably posh home, J. Mendel is moving a couple of blocks uptown this Fall for a bigger space that shows just how the luxury label has evolved since the mid 90's. When it originally opened at 723 Madison Avenue in 1995, the label was mainly known as an exclusive, generations-old Paris based furrier with a small sideline in made-to-order couture apparel. A couple of years later, the label opened another boutique inside Bergdorf Goodman that replaced that store's legendary fur salon, that raised its profile. but by the 2000's, focus shifted to apparel. After the addition of a ready-to-wear collection, many red-carpet appearances and New York Fashion Week runway shows have re-made the label as a major name in luxe eveningwear, and the new 2,745 square foot store at 787 Madison will have three levels for the label to display its expanding collections including accessories, a bridal salon, V.I.P. fitting rooms and, of course, plenty of furs. While there is no such thing as a "bad" block of Madison Avenue between 57th and 72nd Streets, the new location, which was once home to designer Jackie Rogers and a hair salon, will put J. Mendel in the company of Fred Leighton, Michael Kors' Collection store, and an also expanding Oscar de la Renta boutique, which can't hurt. Look for the new flagship store to open this fall.

J. Mendel to Relocate Madison Avenue Store (WWD)
J. Mendel (Official Site)

TODAY IN BRAND BUILDING: Berluti To Grow Fast On Madison Avenue

Earlier last month it was rumored that the burgeoning luxury Italian cobbler Berluti was considering a higher profile place on Madison Avenue, and it seems to have taken over the former Anne Fontaine store between 61st and 62nd Streets. The two level space will eventually replace the much more modest Berluti shop at 76th Street. If you think that this move is because the artisanal men's shoe brand has been so incredibly successful that it needs to increase its space tenfold, then you may want to think again. Berluti's sudden high profile is more a result of corporate parent LVMH's decision to push the exclusive label into luxury menswear megabrand terrirory to compete with the Ermenegildo Zegnas, Brionis and Kitons of the world. The new Berluti, created over the past couple of years, is really a combination of the venerable Italian shoe and leathergoods label and the rarefied but much admired French bespoke tailor Arnys, whose operations have been folded into the Berluti brand. Add former ZZegna designer Alessandro Sartori as artistic director and you have a new luxury menswear house. Berluti flagships are concurrently rising in international capitals London and Paris, where the Arnys store is being converted. In addition, a lavish shop-in-shop will also be opening in Bergdorf Goodman's Men's Store featuring the complete collection that one expects will be much like the one that opened last Fall at Harrod's in London..

It's a lot of fast growth for the brand which wouldn't have been remotely possible without LVMH's strategic thinking and deep pockets. The question is whether it is better to grow a luxury brand through years of organic development and customer building or giving it a super steroid boost and presenting it to potential customers? Does it matter? Berluti has a long tradition of beautiful, if a bit conspicuously handmade goods, and Alessandro Sartori proved his taste and skill with Zegna's younger, more directional brand. There's no reason to think that they won't come together to make a great collection of products, and it looks like we will see later this year if LVMH's rapid-growth strategy will pay off.

ALEXANDRA JACOBS GOES SHOPPING: Symbolist Easter Candy Edition

Critical Shopper Alexandra Jacobs spent her Easter Sunday shopping the new Cynthia Rowley boutique off Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side. In this era of multi-tasking, it turns out that the ageless designer has combined her new apparel boutique with a confectionery called CuRious Candy on the second floor, despite the fact, which our shopper points out, that Rowley's collection continues to be geared toward slender, likely non-candy eaters. In fact, though the designer herself is now a resilient industry veteran, her clothes have not exactly matured along with her, even if her once demure creations have developed a tougher edge in recent seasons.

Skirts tend to be flouncy, way above the kneecaps, or both. Sleeves are batwing or nonexistent. If a fabric can be covered with repeating logos, appliquéd with glitter or otherwise embellished, it probably will be.

Somehow Jacobs also manages to drop the name of the quasi-obscure 19th Century Belgian Nobel Prize-winning Symbolist playwright Maurice Maeterlinck in reference to the candy shop. We still have not been able to figure out how this makes any sense whatsoever, but perhaps that's just our fault for not being acceptably well-versed in Belgian Symbolist Theater.

Critical Shopper: More Rizzo Than Sandra Dee By Alexandra Jacobs (NYTimes)
Cynthia Rowley 43 East 78th Street between Madison & Park Avenues, Upper East Side

ALEXANDRA JACOBS GOES SHOPPING: Not Getting Married Today Edition

Here are a few things we learned from today's Critical Shopper column in the Thursday Styles as Alexandra Jacobs checks out Monique Lhuillier's Upper East Side boutique/bridal salon:

The 80's Wham hit "Everything She Wants" is apparently an "old standard" now. Really? George Michael must be so thrilled to finally join the ranks of Irving Berlin and Cole Porter.

If you are gown shopping, bring your own shoes. Despite launching a new shoe collection, Lhuillier reportedly does not provide try-on heels (which is, frankly, hard to believe).

Lhuillier is confident enough about her own talents to have glossy volumes featuring Chanel, Balenciaga and Dior arrayed in her salon for the bored shopping companion to peruse.

Jacobs seems to find "brand extensions" like scented candles and home fragrances "cheesy". What must she think of Lhuillier's Waterford china, crystal and flatware collections, or her perfectly relevant stationery and invitation line? How else is a designer supposed to make an extra buck theses days?

The bridal floor upstairs is like one big, plush communal, photo-friendly dressing room, "with visitors casually tossing their purses on the floor and browsing while still half-dressed." We are pretty sure that, in reality, this scene is not nearly as soft-core as it sounds. We have seen "Bridesmaids".

Critical Shopper: Branching Out From the Altar By Alexandra Jacobs (NYTimes)
Monique Lhuillier 19 East 71st Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues, Upper East Side

SHOE MOVES: Vince Camuto To Go Upscale On Madison Avenue

When we heard that the burgeoning footwear turned lifestyle brand Vince Camuto was taking over Cole Haan's store at Madison Avenue and 61st Street, we thought, "Sounds cheap," especially to open up right across the street from Barneys right in the middle of the most luxurious shopping district in Manhattan. If the signage that now covers the currently-under-renovation space is any indication, however, the location will be devoted to the VC Signature label, which offers more luxurious footwear in the $185 to $495 range. So, yeah, it's still a little on the low end for Madison Avenue for a corner just a few steps from Brian Atwood, Roger Vivier and Tods, not to mention Barneys' lavish shoe floor, but it's not quite the downgrade we and, presumably, the upcoming store's neighbors thought it would be. The Camuto brand has stores on 34th Street and in Grand Central Terminal with a flagship on Broadway in SoHo and a Flatiron district store on the way. This long and narrow 1,700 square foot store may be better suited to promote its higher end shoe and handbag line, possibly along with the about to be launched men's collection, and downplay the lower end products. When will it open? We don't know just yet, but we are guessing it will take until late Spring or early Summer to remove the Cole-Haan-nes and install a new look.

JON CARAMANICA GOES SHOPPING: Just Looking Edition

After a Fashion Week break, the Critical Shopper Jon Caramainca is back in the Thursday Styles with a visit to
Lanvin's new Men's Store on Madison Avenue. We find him engaged and intrigued, but not fully sold, as if to demonstrate that you can admire a label's products all day long without actually needing to participate further as a customer. Or maybe everything's just too expensive. Or both -not that there's anything wrong with just visiting. Even Lanvin's signature sneakers -"elitist clown shoes"- fail to seduce.

In the fitting room, our shopper never fully connects with his choices, and winds up in a super-luxurious tracksuit,

Now this was a look: like an eel with an attitude, or a joyous Mylar parade float. Everyone should be so cozy for at least two minutes in his life. I snapped a picture, so I’d remember it always, and then I slithered out of it and back into my own skin and left.

Critical Shopper: Self-Discovery in a Silk Tracksuit By Jon Caramanica (NYTimes)
Lanvin Men's Boutique 807 Madison Avenue between 67th & 68th Streets, Upper East Side
Previously:
Luxury Expansion: Lanvin's Men's Store Is Now Open

ALEXANDRA JACOBS GOES SHOPPING: Retro To Red Carpet Edition

On the eve of Fashion Week, Critical Shopper Alexandra Jacobs makes a visit to the newly relocated Emilio Pucci boutique on Madison Avenue for this week's Thursday Styles. The label has benefited from generation after generation of thrift shoppers rediscovering the kaleidoscopic prints invented by its namesake, but the Pucci of today seems finally to have broken free of its retro image by way of current designer Peter Dundas' slinky eveningwear for Rhihanna, Beyoncé, Katy Perry and, most recently, Kelly Rowland who wore a Pucci black leather halter bodysuit with zip pockets for her non-surprise Destiny's Child reunion at the Super-Bowl (we got a press relase emailed to us within seconds of her leaving the stage).

Unfortunately, all this slinky glamor has put Jacobs in a store now pushing Red Carpet wear ahead of the loud and sometimes dizzying but essentially wearable sportswear that made its name. Despite the best efforts of a reportedly super-accommodating staff neither she nor her shopping companion found much to realistically add to their wardrobes,

...as a friend facing down an upcoming black-tie gala tried on a heavily beaded minifrock: “Katy Perry actually wore that.”
I couldn’t help noticing that two red beads were appliquéd exactly over my pal’s nipples, suggesting the Capezzoli de Venere dessert proffered by Salieri to Mrs. Mozart in “Amadeus.”

And what not-GaGa person really wants articulated nipple indicators on her dress?

Critical Shopper: Talking About Pucci in the Present Tense By Alexandra Jacobs (NYTimes)
Emilio Pucci 855 Madison Avenue at 71st Street, Upper East Side

LUXURY EXPANSION: Lanvin's Men's Store Is Now Open

It's a tiny bit late and missing one of its promised floors, but the Lanvin Men's Boutique on Madison Avenue has finally opened its doors. Originally announced as three floors to be opening last Fall, the store quietly started admitting customers about a week and a half ago, though they have not actually held any opening events or celebrations yet. We are betting that the PR push will start sometime around Fashion Week, but we have never been one to wait for announcements. The list of designer boutiques in New York who missed their projected opening dates is so long that we would hardly hold tardiness against Lanvin, and as for the missing third level, the store seems to fit quite nicely into two very elegant floors for now.

Meant to replicate the interior of the brand's men's store in Paris, this next component of the Lanvin revival juggernaut features sleek, dark wood paneling with matte metal details to create a neutral background for creative director Alber Elbaz's and men's designer Lucas Ossendriver's collections. The long, narrow townhouse configuration echoes the original boutique a few doors up the street to a certain extent, with a staircase in the front leading upstairs. While not yet fully stocked for Spring, the street level is devoted to the sportier and more directional fashion side of the men's collection. A wall of sneakers showcases one of the brand's signature items in endless combinations of materials, with other accessories nearby. Much of the floor still features Fall sale merchandise, though we are expecting it will be fully stocked for spring by the time opening fanfare starts. A walk upstairs to the second floor brings us to the more elegant side of Lanvin, which had a thriving traditional menswear business for decades before Elbaz re-invigorated the label's fashion image with his women's collections. Customers who missed the label's more elegant "15 Faubourg" range can find more classical suits and dress furnishings here along with a plush eveningwear salon in the back.

Since much of the staff has simply been imported from what is now the women's boutique, we were thankfully spared the over effusive new-store-new-sales-associate treatment (you may still find some of that at Belstaff across the street if that's what gets you shopping), but they were appropriately welcoming and free of the sort of aloofness that still abounds on Madison Avenue. Of course, it's Lanvin, where sneakers start at around $595, but, at least for the next few weeks, there's a healthy selection of winter clearance still on the racks which should make you approximately 50% less intimidated by the prices. Sometimes on Madison Avenue, you have to take the best deal you can get.

Lanvin Men's Boutique 807 Madison Avenue between 67th & 68th Streets, Upper East Side

THAT WAS FAST: A Gallery Bumped Rag & Bone Off Madison Avenue

So here's a surprise.
The much heralded Rag & Bone boutique at 909 Madison Avenue at 73rd Street has quietly closed. Our friends at RACKED tell us that the high-profile store, meant to be an uptown flagship for the brand, is now being prepared for a new tenant, the three level Dominique Lévy gallery.

Why the short lease for such a prominent store? Co-founder David Neville told Racked that the store only had a one-year Pop-Up lease and was always intended to be temporary.
Really?
Funny how that detail was never released in the copious amounts of press coverage that accompanied the store's opening a year ago. for the record, it certainly didn't look like a pop-up, but those terms has become much more fluid lately. For example, Christian Dior's "temporary" men's store in SoHo recently became permanent —to the surprise of just about nobody. Perhaps this was the same situation in reverse in which case the lease was intended to be extended if the store performed well enough. It's hard to imagine that the company, which just received major new investment this month, is in any sort of trouble, since it is rapidly expanding its retail network all over the country and remains a favorite in stores. In fact, according to Neville, the brand is still looking for a permanent spot in the Madison Avenue area.

Rag & Bone on Madison Avenue Mysteriously Shutters (RACKED NY)