The Shophound

Pop-Up Extension: The Limited Hangs Around Awhile

Anyone who missed The Limited's four day return to Manhattan last month (like us, for example) can rest easy because the pop-up store on Spring Street where Hogan used to live (whatever happened to Hogan, anyway?) has been extended through December as a result of overwhelming response. Since its opening, the temporary store has been one of the best performing units in the chain.
The Limited!
Go figure.
Perhaps absence has made the hearts of Manhattanites grow fonder, but, frankly, we barely noticed it had been missing for 10 years, which is why its parent company, Limited Brands, practically gave away sold a majority stake in its namesake division to Sun Capital Partners a couple of years ago. Sun now has the task of turning around a once powerful chain that had become irrelevant enough to put into retail foster care.
So what does The Limited look like today?
Not half bad.
Proving the chain's relevance will be an uphill battle in a crowded market with a penny pinching customer base. The chain now has to compete with the Zaras and H&Ms of the world, and a Topshop ready to further invade its home turf, but a revitalized design team seems to be working hard to make the store appealing again. If what's in the pop-up is any indication, they're doing an admirable job with the revamped Limited looking fresh, on-trend and well priced, putting it way ahead of most mall chains. Apparently, the challenge of being the underdog has revitalized it. Along with the chain's private labels Forenza and Outback Red, The Limited has even revived one of the staples of its '80s heyday, the brightly colored shaker knit sweater. We're a little on the fence about this idea. Anyone who was around then can easily recall the late '80s glut of shaker knit sweaters as the popular item replicated itself throughout the mall, though that might give the item just enough nostalgic camp appeal to stage a comeback.
There's talk that if things go well, The Limited might stay on Spring Street permanently. We think they are better suited to a Broadway location a few blocks away, to be honest, but so far the chain has done an unexpectedly good job earning its comeback.
The Limited NYC Pop-Up through December 28^th (for now) 134 Spring St., between Wooster and Greene Streets, SoHo
Previously:
Limited Unloads The Limited...For Less Than Nothing.

UNIQLO Alert: +J Is Back In Stock With A Surprise Delivery

As if we haven't written enough about UNIQLO this week, we wouldn't want to miss telling you that the SoHo flagship has received a surprise replenishment of the +J collection designed by Jil Sander direct from Japan to satisfy everyone who missed out on the best pieces last month.
The one caveat is that because the goods are from the Japanese stores, they are in smaller Japanese sizes which may be cut slightly differently.
Most people don't realize it, but UNIQLO has different production runs specifically cut for its New York, London and now Paris stores. To make your shopping easier, the store has posted handy size translation charts over the newly replenished +J racks (pictured above), and recommends careful trying on before you buy.
Back in the store are such long gone items as woven shirts for men and women, men's tailored jackets and pants. Many women's separates, knitwear and sold out outerwear pieces for both genders have also returned, so if you weren't quick enough to get what you wanted the first time, here's your second chance (especially if you are on the petite side).
The easiest way to discern the Japanese sized items from the Western ones? Check the hangtags. The Japanese ones will be mostly written in...you guessed it...Japanese!

Weekend Washouts: Is Gucci's Sneaker Pop-up A Bust?

As you can see from the picture above, Gucci was prepared with velvet ropes for the hordes of people that were expected to descend upon opening of the heavily promoted Gucci Icon-Temporary store in SoHo last weekend.
So where were they?
When we stopped by the Crosby street store last Saturday at around Noon, there was not a soul in the place, let alone anyone waiting outside, except for the properly decorous staff, smartly turned out in crisp white shirts. So what went wrong? Was it the weather? Though it was gloomy, there was hardly the kind of rain that would keep an enthusiastic shopper home on a Saturday. Perhaps confusion over the opening caused problems, as Gucci had earlier announced last Friday, not Saturday as the opening day. Was it location? While Crosby Street is just off the beaten path in SoHo, it's hardly so obscure that people wouldn't notice the big neon Gucci signs behind Bloomingdale's (though the Meatpacking District would have been a far better choice).
Maybe it's none of the above. Perhaps the folks at Gucci miscalculated when they thought that in 2009 they should be centering a costly promotion around sneakers that sell for for more than $500 (including some styles going for up to $1400)  —superDJ Mark Ronson's participation notwithstanding. While the Gucci Icon-Temporary shop was set up to attract collectors, it appears that the luxury brand has limited clout among sneaker folk. After all, sneakers are hardly their stock in trade. Limited edition loafers? That might have attracted some interest, and made rather a bit more sense for the brand. Maybe a couple of years ago, when mindless extravagance was the order of the day, they could have whipped up more excitement among shoppers, but it's a different world now —and apparently a different Gucci. The shop itself is a well executed, crisp white interior, like the inside of an expensive shoebox, and Mark Ronson's boat shoe/sneaker hybrid, designed in collaboration with Gucci creative director Frida Gianini, is an interesting design, but most of the other styles look like Nikes or Adidas that have had their logos replaces with Gucci flair and perhaps a touch of alligator here and there. Apparently this is not enough to get the same masses who will spend hours in line in front of A Bathing Ape for every new release.
Perhaps things will pick up over the next two weeks of the shop's appearance. Maybe Miami, the store's next scheduled stop, will be more receptive to the merchandise before the whole affair heads off to London and Tokyo and other international destinations. If the rest of the world seems to be as underwhelmed as New York, however, this might be a good opportunity for the folks at Gucci to ponder exactly what they think their label is supposed to stand for.
Gucci Icon-Temporary Crosby Street between Spring & Broome Streets, approximately through November 7th (?)

Fashion Unchained: SoHo's Sol De Ibiza Lives

A couple of weeks ago we reported that the SoHo boutique Sol de Ibiza had been closed in a manner that was clearly.... involuntary.
Owner Leslie Bettison has contacted The Shophound to let us all know that her eviction has been ruled illegal in court, and the chains pictured above have been removed from the front doors.
Sol de Ibiza is fully stocked and once again open for business.
Previously:
Fashion In Chains: SoHo's Sol de Ibiza Gets The Lockup
Sol de Ibiza 52 Greene Street between Broome & Grand Streets

Today In Relocations: Seize Sur Vingt Officially Enters SoHo

We were so preoccupied with the UNIQLO +J launch last week that we completely forgot that NoLita pioneer haberdasher Groupe Seize Sur Vingt had opened its new consolidated location on Greene Street.
The new shop looks great.
Don't bring the kids (more on that later).
Having built itself into a prestigious neighborhood anchor at the top of Elizabeth Street, the custom clothing specialists has finally chosen to move from its slightly offbeat pair of locations to what is now a very mainstream SoHo spot with neighbors like PHI, Y-3 and Kiki de Montparnasse. What, if anything, this may mean for the brand, we don't know, but it will put it squarely in the path of a lot more people, which is never a bad thing for a still young and growing company. The new store consolidates all of the company's lines under one convenient roof including the luxury custom shirts and suitings it is known for and the "rowdy little brother" Troglodyte Homunculus label sportswear.
While we do miss the sleek vintage Lotus motorcars that often graced the front of the more recent Groupe 15sur20 store on Elizabeth Street, they have been replaced by some charmingly naïve erotic paintings hanging on the store's walls. They kind of reminded us of what it might look like if some of the Peanuts characters grew up and decided to pose for Penthouse Magazine. It might be wise to leave the little ones at home when you go to pick up your shirt order, unless you are anxious to answer questions like, "Daddy, why does the lady in the picture have her legs next to her head?"
Just a friendly warning.
Groupe Seize Sur Vingt 78 Greene Street between Spring and Broome Streets, SoHo

Fashion In Chains: SoHo's Sol de Ibiza Gets The Lockup

Just as Greene Street's long empty spaces are starting to fill in, another independent boutique feels the sting of the economy. We have to admit that we have never paid a great deal of attention to Sol de Ibiza at no. 52, which appears to have been a perfectly nice little swim and sportswear boutique. Perhaps being too innocuous was part of its problem, because as we walked past it yesterday, we were struck by the shiny chains on the doors. Also there were the multiple notices in the windows announcing that the landord had retaken the premises and its contents, and informing the shop's owner that should she attempt to enter the premises, she would be arrested for trespassing.
Ouch!
Inside, the darkened shop appeared to be ready for business with full racks of merchandise, suspended in time until some resolution to the situation is reached.
At some point, there will probably be a very good sale there, and at the moment, its website appears to be up and running, but at the moment, Sol de Ibiza está brillando no más.
Sol de Ibiza (Official Site)

Return To The Scene: +J Throws UNIQLO For A Loop

We hadn't been back to UNIQLO since Thursday's +J launch, so we quickly stopped in on Monday afternoon (no line) to see what was left.
The good news is there's still plenty of +J left even though the curtained off in-store shop is still teeming with enthusiastic customers and staff continually replenishes the shelves. While things seem relatively under control inside the curtains, just beyond the drapes, however, are more racks and trolleys piled with stock to replenish and discards from the dressing rooms. In short, it's a bit of a mess, but you can hunt through the backstock for your size yourself if you have the patience for rummageing. The lines at the registers remain surprisingly long for a Monday afternoon, and the entire staff seems a bit frazzled, furiously moving goods to the sales floor.
Not only is the Jil Sander designed collection an unqualified hit, but the halo effect on the rest of the store is in full effect with high traffic and the normally well stocked shelves now featuring empty gaps. An entire section of the lower level has been cordoned off and converted into a stock section for new deliveries, but so far, the store hasn't figured out a way to finesse replenishment more smoothly.
So if you think you missed out last week, you can rest assured that this was no blink-and-you've-missed-it H&M-style one-day event. You can now shop more leisurely without all the waiting in line to get in. We can't promise you that every item is still available in your size (or at all), but considering how much stock there appears to be, you have a better than even chance of finding some good stuff at least for the rest of the week.
Previously:
Collaboration Anticipation: UNIQLO's +J Débuts With Controlled Chaos

Location Speculation: Is This Isabel Marant's New Maison In New York?

Last Friday, Style.com broke the news that Isabel Marant, the Parisian designer with the sleeper cult-following, was opening a boutique in SoHo in just a few months. The location was described as near the corner of Broome and Greene Streets. Could this empty parcel at that very corner be the spot? The former Waterworks showroom is the only unoccupied shop on the corner, and it looks like something's going on behind that craft paper over the windows. It puts Marant just a block away from fellow French lady Catherine Malandrino's shop on Broome, which otherwise feels somewhat less exploited by fashion retailers compared to the rest of SoHo.
Marant is famously internet-phobic, having asked all her retail accounts to pull her goods from online selling, and her website consists only of a small video of her Fall '09 runway show, so there's little info coming from that front. Feel free to correct us if we're wrong —as if you need to be encouraged.

Collaboration Anticipation: UNIQLO's +J Débuts With Controlled Chaos

If you were thinking of taking a leisurely jaunt over to UNIQLO today, be prepared. The line currently stretches to Prince Street (and possibly beyond)
Thanks to the delightful folks at UNIQLO for allowing The Shophound a preferred entry to the store where we got the chance to browse in peace and quiet for a few minutes before vigorous shoppers began loading their arms with as much of the new Jil Sander designed +J label as they could carry to the dressing rooms.
UNIQLO's managers are carefully supervising the number of customers they are letting into the store at a time to avoid the sort of mad grabbing and elbow throwing one would encounter at H&M's annual designer collaboration launches. Additionally, they have printed special flyers informing shoppers that they will be permitted to buy only one piece per garment per style, presumably to discourage the sort of mass purchasing that fills eBay with goods within hours. While the huge flagship store could easily accommodate the entirety of the line, the +J collection is artfully encased inside a white pipe-and-drape enclosure, creating an ethereal boutique within the store on the main floor, full of staffers who were diligently attending personally to the early press arrivals. We spotted GQ Editor-in-Chief Jim Nelson making his choices with a personal attendant. A mob scene would have clearly disrupted the mood, so, unfortuately, it will be slow going waiting in line. 
Oh, and the clothes! The production quality looks every bit as pristine and elegant as the samples did in UNIQLO's showroom, which is good news. Fabrics are pretty basic, as we have noted before, so what we have here is classic Sander sportswear as opposed to the more dramatic runway looks or advanced, experimental fabrics the designer is known for. Down items looked particularly appealing including a hooded parka with a dark denim exterior. Stretch cashmere sweaters, among the more expensive items at $149.00, were also especially tempting. If these clothes could speak, however, they would be telling The Shophound to go on a diet, so be warned. It's not that we are morbidly obese, but the sizes run small. Men's trousers, for example, top out at an alarmingly tiny size 34, with a not very large "Large" being the top size available in other items. Hopefully this will change in the future, but we understand that the women's sizes correspond in a similar manner. We made it out of there with a couple of beautiful shirts  for $39.50 each, (in a special +J bag, of course) though we could have been encouraged to buy each one in the line.
What will be left in a few days? Who knows?
Hopefully there will be replenishments coming, but we can't promise anything.
Overall, the collection looks like a ringing success, and totally worth a good bit of tedious line-waiting as long as you are slender of physique —so hipsters have at it!
UNIQLO +J while supplies last at the UNIQLO Flagship, SoHo

More pictures after the jump

T — 1 Day And Counting: UNIQLO's +J Designed By Jil Sander Launches Tomorrow

Just a small reminder that UNIQLO's +J label, the one created by German designer Jil Sander exclusively for the Japanese chain, will be available tomorrow morning, October 1st at 10 AM. The SoHo flagship doors will open at 10 AM so we strongly recommend lining up as early as possible. We don't know how long the stock will last, but it's not likely be too long.
Good luck to all.
UNIQLO +J  546 Broadway between Houston & Prince Streets, SoHo