The Shophound

SUMMER SHOPPING: Havaianas Flip Flops Pop Up This Summer At The Highline

It's almost Memorial Day weekend, which means it's time to make sure that your flip flop wardrobe is in order for the beach, poolside, backyard, etc, (but not we hasten to add, the city sidewalks —unless you are just itchin' for a collection of plantars warts and any number of other revolting foot bacteria and infections).
We have yet to find better flip flops than Havaianas from Brazil. Even though there are others available for a few bucks less, somehow Havaianas are just the most comfortable and long lasting. if you don't believe us, you will have a chance to see for yourself when the brand will open a pop-up shop on Gansevoort Street at the base of the Highline. Not only will they offer a full selection of sandals, but there will also be a bar where customers will be able to design their own sandals by mixing and matching components. check it out from May 30, running nearly all Summer long through September 3.

Become a Flip Flop Designer at Havaiana's Highline Pop Up (Racked)

PLAN AHEAD: A Pop-Up Store For Michael Bastian Is Set For This November

You can make your Fall shopping plans early this year. The BOFFO Building Fashion program took a hiatus last year, but it will be making a welcome return this Fall with three new shops starting with one for menswear designer Michael Bastian. The new 640-square-foot shop will run for three weeks this November. The program teams up fashion designers with innovative architectural settings, and in the past has staged installations for Simon Spurr, Nicola Formichetti, Siki Im and Patrik Ervell to name a few. Boffo is accepting submissions through May 23rd at Architizer.com for a competition to design an interior for Bastian's shop which will be housed in two shipping containers at Pier 57 in Chelsea. The winner will receive a $20,000 prize on top of whatever resources they will need to execute the interior. There will also be upcoming shops for one womenswear designer and one accessories designer who are yet to be announced.

As for Bastian, he now designs his own signature label as well as the popular, ongoing  Gant by Michael Bastian collaboration collection so he should have more than enough product to fill the shop and draw customers to it. Reportedly, offerings will include exclusive runway pieces from his Fall 2013 collection (pictured at left) that will not be available at other retailers. WWD reports that this project will serve as a precursor of sorts to his own permanent shop which he is actively planning. Bastian is a rare designer who also has an extensive background in retailing, so when he finally opens his permanent showplace, we can reasonably expect something impressive. Stay tuned for more details as they are released.

Michael Bastian Goes BOFFO (WWD)
BOFFO Building Fashion (Official Site)
Submit proposals at Architizer.com
Michael Bastian (Official Site)

ROLLING RETAIL: Keep An Eye Out For Uniqlo's UT Truck

You would think that with three huge Uniqlo stores in Manhattan and two brand new ones in the suburbs, everyone would be pretty well versed with the Japanese mass sportswear chain, but just in case you can't make it in to one of the stores, they will be sending a big truck full of the latest UT T-shirts all over town for the next three weeks or so. The Shophound found it at Broadway and 18th Street yesterday afternoon, and chances are they will be at a neighborhood near you sometime this month. Click HERE for a schedule of times and places where you can find the truck. For the next four Saturday, it will be parked at Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District with special performances and celebrity guests. As for the T-Shirts, there seem to be more than ever. Among the dizzying array, are new styles from ever more popular, if no longer living artists like Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat along with plenty of Disney, Peanuts, Hello Kitty and any number of other Japanese video games and Manga characters that you have probably never heard of but look really cool. Since they start at $19.90, you can afford to have a little bit of fun with them.

Uniqlo UT 2013 Pop-Up Truck (Official Site)

CAN'T PASS IT UP: DSW's Luxe810 Designer Pop-Up Goes To 90% Off

It's getting closer to the end of March, and that means that DSW's deeply discounted designer apparel pop-up shop, Luxe810 will be closing soon. As any good sample sale shopper knows, the prices get better at the end, and Luxe810's started out pretty good. Yesterday, The Shophound strolled by and noticed that the discount had been raised from 80% to 90% off.
That's 90% off, folks.
It doesn't get better than that, and it makes for easy math. Just move the decimal point on the price tag. The merchandise is not quite as abundant as it was when we discovered the shop, but there's still plenty of stuff left from the designers listed in the image above including Bottega Veneta, Roberto Cavalli and Gucci to name a few. Imagine a Ralph Lauren suit for under $150. How about a special Valentino dress for $300 or so? We aren't sure what the exact closing date of the shop is, but at these prices we don't expect it to last too much longer.

Luxe810 Pop-Up store at 408 West 14th Street between Ninth Avenue & Washington Street, Meatpacking District
Previously:
Off-Price Spring Treat: Luxe810 Pop-Up Brings DSW's Discount Apparel To The Meatpacking District

STORE SHUFFLE: Club Monaco Puts A Beach Shop In Bleecker Street's Rugby Store

When Ralph Lauren shut down his Rugby chain, we had to wonder what would happen to the valuable real estate it left empty. Last month we discovered that the University Place flagship would be converted to the designer's popular Denim & Supply brand, and today, our friends at Racked tell us that Club Monaco has been installed in the remaining Bleecker Street location (originally a RRL store), at least for the Summer.

Club Monaco, you may recall, is in fact owned by Ralph Lauren, so even though the designer's name is no longer on the shop, it still remains in the family. Along with a selection of beachy white basics from the chain's own assortments, the store offers denim for 7 For All Mankind, Swimwear from Vix and Toschi and, of course, Havaianas flip flops. The space has been stripped of its signature Lauren clutter in favor of clean, white paneling and pipe racks and a big pile of sand fills the window just in case you didn't immediately get the beach theme. Reportedly, the shop will remain through June, after which the folks at Ralph Lauren Retail will have to figure out exactly what they want to put in there permanently. Given their family options, they could do worse than a revolving series of seasonal Club Monaco pop-up shops.

Club Monaco Opens a Beachy Sundress Shop in the West Village (Racked)

OFF-PRICE SPRING TREAT: Luxe810 Pop-Up Brings DSW's Discount Apparel To The Meatpacking District

It looks like off-price footwear giant DSW might be quietly dipping its toes into the designer apparel world with its new Luxe810 pop-up store on West 14th Street. We haven't heard anything about this new venture before we discovered it over the weekend. It turns out to be one of five temporary stores the retailer has launched around the country to launch the rebranding of its designer offerings under the Luxe810 name.

When it comes to luxury brand shoes, Your regular DSW store can be very hit-or-miss, especially when it comes to prices. A visit to the DSW on the Upper West Side yesterday turned up women's shoes from Prada, Manolo Blahnik, Giuseppe Zanotti and Miu Miu to name a few labels, but the discounts on these brands tend not to be particularly deep, making them less of a bargain than the first markdowns at Saks or Bergdorf's. The prices on apparel at the Luxe810 pop-up, however, are an impressive, flat 80% off the full tickets, and from what we could tell, it was all top-tier goods —no dodgy diffusion labels. We saw a full rack of serious evening gowns from Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana and Valentino among others. There are substantial selections from Bottega Veneta, Gucci and Balenciaga for women and men as well as men's tailored clothing from Ermenegildo Zegna and Ralph Lauren. Surprisingly, there was only a very small selection of shoes, though there was a case full of Judith Leiber bags.

Whether DSW will be getting more into the Off-Price apparel business remains to be seen. The staff at the store told The Shophound that this was a new venture for the company and had no idea if it would be repeated or expanded. There may be something of a void to be filled with last years demise of Filene's Basement and Syms, but if DSW does expand in this direction, we don't expect the discounts to be quite as deep on a regular ongoing basis as they are at this pop-up. One caveat: the store appears to be featuring some elaborate pieces from these brands -especially in eveningwear. That means that if something starts out at $5,900 or so, the discount price is will still be over $1000. Not everything is quite that exorbitant, but with a focus strictly on the high end, the shop may not be the place to look for a casual impulse buy. On the other hand, even of the shop is a one-off, it's a great opportunity for anyone looking for special designer pieces at deep discounts. Luxe810 will be open through the end of March and can also be found in Washington D.C., Boca Raton, Boston and San Francisco.

Luxe810 Pop-Up store open through March 31 at 408 West 14th Street between Ninth Avenue & Washington Street, Meatpacking District

FASHION WEEK POP-UP Nordstrom's Treasure & Bond Spotlights CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Nominees

Last Fashion Week, SoHo's Treasure & Bond teamed up with GQ to present a specially curated men's store, and this time around the CFDA/Vogue Fashion fund is getting its chance to present the most recent roster of nominees in their own pop-up shop starting today. Featured labels include grand prize winner, The Elder Statesman, as well as Suno, A.L.C., Tabitha Simmons, Assembly New York, Giulietta, Illesteva, Jennifer Fisher Jewelry, Jennifer Meyer and Wes Gordon. As always, 100% of the profits from Treasure & Bond will go to charities benefiting children in New York City. Pop-up shops will also be installed in five of Treasure & Bond's owner Nordstrom's flagship locations in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas. While the pop-ups are scheduled to be in stores through May, Nordstrom execs told WWD that they expect them to sell out well before then. Either way, New Yorkers can now head to SoHo to get more familiar with the latest crop of CFDA-anointed up-and-comers.

Treasure & Bond 350 West Broadway between Broome & Grand Streets, SoHo
Nordstrom Links With CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund (WWD)

RETURN ENGAGEMENTS: The Pop-Up Flea Returns This Weekend

One of The Shophound's favorite pop-up events reappears this weekend. The Pop-Up Flea will stage it's fifth edition starting tomorrow afternoon through Sunday, this time at Chelsea's Drive-In studios. Produced by popular blogger and brand consultant Michael Williams of A Continuous Lean and Urban Daddy's Randy Goldberg, it has become an annual shopping bonanza for Heritage brands and younger, artisanal labels which aspire to similar authenticity, and also a symbol of the continuing and strangely paradoxical trendiness of well-worn classics, the more old and busted up, the better. This year's mix of visiting vendors includes regulars like Gitman Brothers, Tellason and Tanner Goods, bigger brands like L.L.Bean Signature, and new additions as well. Click the image above to enlarge the full roster. One of our favorite stores, California's Unionmade will be representing, and Levi's Vintage Clothing is promising a major display of motorcycle jackets and other biker gear and memorabilia from the archives of photographer Danny Lyon.

Expect to see a lot of guys with various iterations of hipster facial hair, an abundance of plaid flannel, and no shortage of men shod in well worn longwing brogues or work boots with white Vibram soles.

The Pop-Up Flea starts Friday November 30th at Drive-In Studios, 443 W 18th Street between 9th & 10th Avenues, Chelsea

POP-UP ALERT: Why The GQ's SoHo Pop-Up Store Is Important For Nordstrom

Above, you can see the camouflage-covered couch that sits at the center of the GQ & Nordstrom Pop-Up shop that has taken up residence at SoHo's Treasure & Bond store through this coming Sunday. Without showing any actual merchandise, this piece of furniture tells you almost everything you need to know about the store, It is a tribute to that guy (or, more likely fashion editor) for whom there can never be enough camouflage print. It's that raw-denim-heritage-brand-longwing-brogue-stack-of-bracelets-double-monkstrap-shoe-sprezzatura-worshipping guy who has captivated the American menswear culture. It's the guy who loves anything authentically American, but loves it more if it comes by way of Tokyo or Milan.  It is, in many ways, like a current issue of GQ encapsulated in retail form, brought to life by Nordstrom.

What it doesn't look like is Nordstrom's men's department —but that appears to be changing. People who know Nordstrom know that it has one of the largest upscale menswear businesses in the retail industry. It has nearly three times the number of locations as Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue, and menswear vendors who sell to Nordstrom will tell you that it is their biggest account by far. What Nordstrom hasn't had, however is a strong fashion image for its men's department. For decades, the direction there has been classic and conservative, and that has been extremely lucrative, but, in case you haven't heard, Nordstrom is coming to New York in a few years, and what plays as traditional in much of the rest of America can come off as bland in New York where Nordstrom aims to compete with Saks, Barneys and Bloomingdale's more than Lord & Taylor and Macy's.

Nordstrom has always had a strong women's designer business in it's top-ranking locations, which it bolstered seven years ago by buying the boutique Jeffrey and making the shop's former owner Jeffrey Kalinsky its chief merchant for men's and women's designer merchandise. Kalinsky seems to have mostly concerned himself with the women's side of the business, but a year ago, the Seattle based store hired former Bergdorf Goodman Men's Fashion Director and President of Simon Spurr, Tommy Fazio. This pop-up store and the company's recent partnership with GQ can be seen as a result of Fazio's presence in the company, and perhaps a glimpse of a more fashion-forward Nordstrom men's business of the future.

The Shophound's recent visits to a couple of high-profile Nordstrom branches has seen the addition of some designer labels like Dolce & Gabbana and Rag & Bone for men that have not been seen in the store in the past and don't yet blend in so easily with the rest of its relatively conservative men's department, but the pop-up store pulls together the kind brands that can bridge that gap between traditional and stylish. Taking advantage of a fashion moment in menswear that is centered around new interpretations of classic American style, Nordstrom has an opportunity to lure in the kind of customer who might have thought the store was a little too conservative for his taste. To that end, and with GQ's guidance, this shop has been filled with a mix of heritage brands and designers like Michael Bastian, in both his main and Gant labels and Todd Snyder as well as specialty lines beloved by fashion insiders like Warby Parker eyewear and Miansai bracelets. There are shoes aplenty —this is a Nordstrom project, after all, and lots and lots of camo. There are even some camouflage patterned baseballs. When the Shophound stopped by last Friday afternoon, the store was buzzing with customers, so when Nordstrom finally opens on West 57th Street in 2018, don't be surprised to see a camouflage couch in the middle of the men's department.

GQ & Nordstrom at Treasure & Bond through September 16th
350 West Broadway between Broome & Grand Streets, SoHo

POP-UP ALERT: Steven Alan Brings Apolis To New York This Fall

A little bit of California style consciousness raising is coming to Chelsea this Fall as Steven Alan is planning a pop-up shop for the L.A. based brand Apolis. The shop will run from October 18th through November at Alan's new Chelsea store on 10th Avenue.

For those unfamiliar with Apolis, the men's brand, as stated on its website, "co-creates products with manufacturers and directly allows the market to determine the future of each item we produce. It is a hands-on model to provide people access to opportunity. We call it 'advocacy through industry,'" . Founded in 2004, it has become something of a cult brand in part by offering all sorts of cool collaborations with other cult brands like Filson, Sigg, Patagonia and Matteo among others. The brand produces products domestically and internationally with a healthy helping of social responsibility and advocacy so there will be no dodgy factories or questionable labor practices involved. The pop-up will feature the brand's travel products along with the special Apolis + Steven Alan Chelsea market tote (as opposed to a "Chelsea Market" tote) pictured here. Reportedly, the shop will also be scheduling programs, photo shows, and documentary films about the brand's design philosophy which may either inspire you as a consumer who can support development around the world or make you feel guilty for buying things from anyone else —or maybe both. We'll get a chance to see for ourselves thins Fall.

Steven Alan to Open Apolis Pop-Up at Chelsea Store (WWD)
Apolis (Official Site)
Steven Alan (Official Site)