The Shophound

LOCAL TRIUMPH: Longtime Indie Retailer Harry's Shoes Expands Threefold On The West Side

The all too common retail story in New York these days is that of the long standing, independent, local store being squeezed out by the behemoth national chain that undercuts its prices and outspends it in rent (See the past decade on Bleecker Street for a concrete example). On Broadway in the West 80s, however, that story is getting a much appreciated reversal as Harry's Shoes, a neighborhood fixture for 37 years since 1931, is set to triple its size by taking the space next door to be vacated by beleaguered chain Talbots.

Harry's a triumph of the humble and prosaic over the slick and flashy. Though the store carries some recently resurgent brands like Sperry Top-Sider, Allen Edmonds, Wolverine and Red Wing, they have been selling them since long before trendier folk rediscovered their charms. Sturdy and serviceable have never been bad words at the busy store full of popular but not especially stylish brands like Merrell, Ecco, Dansko, Teva and Birkenstock. It will never have the folks at Jeffrey or Leffot looking over their shoulders, but in its own, peculiar way, the store on the corner of Broadway and 83rd Street along with a children's annex halfway up the next block, is able to serve nearly all of the diverse demographics of the Upper West Side in some way or other, and it's always crowded on any given weekend. It's not even the only store of its kind. It has competed with the similarly merchandised Tip Top Shoes has thrived on West 72nd Street for almost twice as long for over 70 years. The super-sized version of Harry's Shoes is expected to be completed by Labor Day.
This post has been updated to show some corrections to the ages of the businesses mentioned.

Neighborhood Staple Harry's Shoes To Triple In Size (West Side Rag)

ALEXANDRA JACOBS GOES SHOPPING: Designer Renewal Edition

This week's Thursday Styles features a visit to the newly rejuvenated Salvatore Ferragamo* flagship boutique on Fifth Avenue by Critical Shopper Alexandra Jacobs. The longstanding boutique has just emerged from a timely renovation, and jacobs spends a good deal of column inches recounting the oft-told story of Ferragamo's many innovations (wedges, platforms, engineered stilettos, etc.), celebrity clientele (Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Eva Braun?) and the brand's eventual descent, after its namesake's 1960 death, from fashion leader to comfortable, family owned middle of the road luxury cash cow where grandma got her shoes (Ferragamo is literally where The Shophound's grandma got her shoes).

But then, in the past year, new design leadership has vaulted Ferragamo back into the editorial spotlight, and so a refresh of its main retail showcase was in order. Our shopper finds herself in a store that is also part brand museum, but it is in the dressing room where she discovers that part of the brand's resurgence may be due to combining improved styling with the more forgiving fit of a collection that, in the past, has been aimed at a more conservative customer.

“Small is the only one we have,” he said of the pants, sounding genuinely sorrowful.
That was O.K., as Ferragamo’s clothes are cut with generosity, sometimes even outright forgiveness. Navy sailor slacks had fake buttons on the front, ties up the back and the kind of side slit and roomy seat one might see at Ann Taylor.

It's a strategy some designers might take note of to keep their clothes off the clearance racks.

Critical Shopper: A Transporting Trill of ‘Amore’ By Alexandra Jacobs (NYTimes)
Salvatore Ferragamo 655 Fifth Avenue at 52nd Street, Midtown

*Full Disclosure: The Shophound once spent a couple of years happily working on one of Salvatore Ferragamo's selling floors.

THE PREVIEW CIRCUIT: Camper Hits Grand Central For A Look At Fall

The Spanish shoe brand CAMPER calls its Fall 2012 "Traveling Winter" so it's only fitting that it would choose Grand Central Station to show the press its latest offerings. Actually, JFK Airport is a little out of the way, and Penn Station is a disgusting pit, but Grand Central has the elegant Campbell Apartment which is where The Shophound found ourself yesterday. It's probably fair to say that a lot of people still think of Camper as a source for winsome, round-toed shoe/sneaker hybrid footwear. There were certainly plenty of those signature styles to be seen, but if you haven't checked in on them in a while, you might be surprised at the current breadth of their line. Most exciting is a continuing series of designer collaborations called TO&ETHER including high-style mini-collections with Belgian designer Veronique Branquinho, Bernhard Willhelm and Mugler creative director, Romain Kremer. Also new was a special group of the brand's asymmetrical "Twins" shoes from the Berlin-based design duo known as C.NEEON, as well as a great group of shoes designed for city cyclists called "LINK" which included reflective patches and cleverly designed ankle straps to gather your trouser hem in so it doesn't get caught in the cogs. We took plenty of pictures, but Camper was kind enough to provide us with photos of the entire collection, so have a look at some of the most interesting pieces in the slideshow below (All product shots courtesy of Camper).

CAMPER (Official Site)

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FANCY FEET: Kate Middleton's Favorite Shoes Are Coming To New York

A year or so ago, nobody in America knew much of L.K. Bennett, the midrange British women's shoe and accessory brand, but then Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge stated wearing their nude colored "Sledge" pump, and the slavish following of her every clothing-related move made the brand a hot ticket —just as it was opening its first U.S. Store in Chicago. Now, five stores and a few concessions in Bloomingdale's later, L.K.Benett is opening its first New York store later this year in Time Warner Center's Shops at Columbus Circle.

Are these particularly interesting shoes? Not really, but therein lies their appeal. The Duchess's preferred style is practically invisible, making it look like your foot has grown its own platform and stiletto. Would American's be so excited about L.K.Bennett without Kate Middleton's patronage? Who knows, but it's coming, and Princess Kate is, at least for the moment, something of an inadvertent fashion kingmaker. While L.K.Bennett makes plety of other kind of shoes, expect the Sledge to be front and center when they open their doors on the second floor of the shopping center later this year

L.K. Bennett (Official Site)

THE THING THAT WOULDN'T LEAVE: UGG Australia To Open Madison Avenue Men's Store

We suppose that this was inevitable, but we weren't really looking forward to it. It turns out that UGGs are so popular with male customers, that as a part of the expansion of its store at the corner of Madison Avenue and 58th Street, the brand will open a separate men's store next door. This means that men will no longer have to wait in line to shop at Christmastime, or that there will be two, gender specific lines to get into the store. Either way, crazy.

While it always seems like Uggs are primarily popular among women, the company apparently began making its products in unisex men's sizes, and only began making a women's collection during the 1990s. Hiring The New England Patriots' Tom Brady for an ad campaign last year was a first step in promoting the brand's men's line along with giving critics of the quarterback yet another thing to give him crap for. The store is slated to open sometime this summer, which as all faithful Ugg wearers know, is high season for shealing boots and cutoff shorts. Yeeccch.

UGG Slates Men's-Only Retail Site (Wall Street Journal via Racked)

LIMITED TIME ONLY: You Have Until This Weekend To Check Out Jeremy Scott's Pop-Up In Hell's Kitchen

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If you had asked us ten years ago what the likelihood of Jeremy Scott's fashion line being around in a decade, we would have shrugged our shoulders and said, "Who knows?" After all, the prospects for a designer whose signature style can safely be described as "cartoon character" can be limited, and for every Vivienne Westwood or Jean-Paul Gaultier who survives, the Highway of Fashion is littered with the discarded labels of designers who thought they were more amusing than their potential customers did. Scott, however, is not only still around, but flourishing thanks to, among other things, a canny business sense, a combination of celebrities who need things to wear in music videos and smartly arranged collaborations, particularly with Adidas Originals. The Adidas line has been particularly successful, and so the sneaker giant's yearlong Hell's Kitchen shop has been hosting a two-week pop-up for Scott which will close up after this weekend. Ths Shophound stopped by over the weekend to check it out, because, as far as we know, this two week experiment is the only Jeremy Scott store that exists anywhere. Inside we found lots of bright, colorful clothes in the designer's typical, outlandish style, so if you always wanted a dress printed to look exactly like an actual potato sack, or have had a long-standing hankering to dress just like Fred Flintstone on some day other than Halloween, this is the store for you. We aren't judging anymore.

There are also plenty of Scott's Adidas sneakers in store including the newest versions of his justifiably popular Hermes-styled winged hi-tops (That's Hermes, the messenger of the Greek Gods, not the French leathergoods company). Prices run from affordable t-shirts to the thousands for more elaborate pieces. The winged sneakers run around $300, but even if you aren't ready for the flamboyance of a full Jeremy Scott outfit, it's still worth a trip for the sheer entertainment value of the store. Presumably, after this weekend, the shop will be converted back to its original stock of Adidas Originals, SLVR and Y-3 brands, and close down permanently sometime in May. It remains to be seen whether this store has raised the shopping profile of a neighborhood that despite its popularity among young New Yorkers remains pretty bereft of fashion, though it doesn't appear to have had an effect quite yet. Still, the unassuming location is part of the store's charm —which is what everyone says before some catalyst turns a pleasant little neighborhood into the next Bleecker Street.

Jeremy Scott through February 26th at Adidas Hell's Kitchen 715 Ninth Avenue between 48th & 49th Streets, Hell's Kitchen

SHOE LUST: Leffot + Nick Wooster Present Some Shoes To Save Up For

Get a load of these!

We first caught a glimpse of the boots on Park & Bond's Tumblr a few days ago, and were hoping that they would be selling them on line, (so maybe we could rack up enough Gilt invitation credits to buy them) but our most admired men's shoe store Leffot announced to day on its website, that these shoes and boots from famed English cobbler Alfred Sargent will be made exclusively for themselves in collaboration with menswear idol Nick Wooster (seen reflected in the mirror above). The shop is now taking reserve orders for these camouflage patterned suede shortwing brogues and cap-toe boots with triple soles which will be available this Fall priced at $695 for the shoes and $750 for the boots —so... low to mid price range for Leffot typical offerings, and high to totally out of the question for most of the rest of us. Sigh...
The shoes and boots were created by Wooster for his special Project Wooster section of the recent Project trade show in Las Vegas which features camouflage as a theme. We can never get enough of that, so consider us fully obsessed. We are guessing that if you want a pair of these for your own feet, you had better order ASAP.

Nick Wooster + Leffot: Project Wooster (Leffot Official Site)
Here’s your first look at Nick Wooster’s upcoming collaboration with Leffot and Alfred Sargent (Park & Bond Tumblr)

JELLY JOINT: Melissa To Open SoHo Shop At Fashion Week

Fans of rubber shoes will be partying in a few weeks when popular Brazilian shoe brand Melissa opens its first U.S. store in SoHo on February 8th, the eve of Fashion Week. The label is most famous for its frequent collaborations with big-name designers like Vivienne Westwood, Gareth Pugh and Jason Wu to name a few, who have translated their signature aesthetics to Melissa's jelly based materials.

The store at 102 Greene Street right next to Jill Stuart's longtime boutique is said to be modeled after the brand's flagship in São Paolo which has a dramatic gallery format described by WWD as "hypermodern" and frequently hosts art exhibitions. The new store will open with a display from AVAF (Assume Vivid Astro Focus) collective which is run by Christophe Hamaide-Pierson and Eli Sudbrack who recently garnered a lot of attention for designing the GaGa's Workshop installation at Barneys New York during the recent Holiday season.

Melissa Opens First U.S. Store (WWD)

FOOT FETISH: Louboutin Men's Store To Hit Meatpacking District This Spring

Hey guys! Not enough thousand-dollar sneakers in your life? Are you also dying to show off your profligate shoe expenditures to your friends by flashing the red soles of your overdecorated loafers? Well, cool your heels for just a few more months because Christian Louboutin is opening his second men's boutique in the world sometime this Spring. It will be located on Washington Street between Horatio and Gansevoort Streets, just a stone's throw from his already popular downtown women's store. Just think how convenient it will be when your girlfriend/beard can go shop for her own excessively embellished platform hooker shoes while you try on your precious slippers. Then you can both skip down the cobblestones to Beaumarchais to show off your flashy new shoes to all the kids at the Eurotrash Disco Brunch!

Oh, Springtime just can't come soon enough!

Christian Louboutin to Open Men's Store in NYC (WWD)

MYSTERIES of the UNIVERSE: Yes, People Are Still Lining Up In Front Of The UGG Store

A couple of years ago, The Shophound noticed a strange phenomenon in SoHo in which people would stand in long lines in the cold outside what was then the only UGG store in Manhattan despite the fact that UGGs are widely available in over 80 stores in New York City. At the time, we thought it was some kind of fluke or a sign of a tiresome trend that had hit its peak, but no, last year there were more UGG stores and consequently, more UGG lines.

In case you were wondering (and we know your curiosity has been burning on this one) the lines are back again —at least in midtown. The above photo was taken yesterday afternoon in front of the UGG boutique at the corner of Madison Avenue and 58th Street where the line extended nearly halfway down a particularly long block. Why anyone continues to do this, we have no idea. It seems pointless on all fronts, but, as you can see, many people (tourists, they have to be, right?) in line are already converted devotées to the chunky, unflattering footwear.

We're beyond going on and on about why we can't stand UGGs at this point, but we still cannot endorse waiting in line for no reason whatsoever, so if you are hopelessly addicted to these shoes and you ust buy them from an official retail outlet, you might want to know that the third UGG boutique in New York, on Columbus Avenue between 67th and 68th street does not seem to be plagued with lines. In fact, The Shophound passes it often in our travels, and we have not noticed any lines outside since the beginning of the Holiday Shopping Season. So if you must indulge yourself, get out of the SoHo and Midtown crowd melée, and head across town to the more civilized West Side, just don't tell anyone we sent you.