JON CARAMANICA GOES SHOPPING: Super Curated Edition

The Shophound is feeling ambivalent about today's Critical Shopper column. Jon Caramanica has landed at C'H'C'M' (how do we pronounce this? As initials or gibberish?), a new store devoted to curating well-made, classic items from long established manufactures around the world. It sounds like an international twist on the "heritage" movement that has vaulted humble, quality minded brands like Alden Shoes, Red Wing, Quoddy, Woolrich and Pendleton into the forefront for a certain type of clothing geek. C'H'C'M' turns its attention outward, bringing in similar labels from France, Italy and other corners of Europe and beyond. On the surface, it's all basic, classic stuff, but our shopper asks, "How can such incremental adjustments to the sorts of staple garments that have always been around — and seemed perfectly fine — make so much difference?"

The store showcases hardy labels from faraway lands like France's Paraboot, Italy's Valstar and Belgium's Sunspel. Caramanica is especially taken a black, rubberized cotton mackintosh jacket for $1095, which sounds to us like a beautifully tailored perspiration accellerator, but, hey, to each his own.

On the one hand, we have appreciated seeing brands with with real integrity experience such a revival over the past few years (Don't take away our Woolrich Woolen Mills shirts!), but on the other, it seems like this movement has reached a peak of sorts. A visit to some menswear trade shows is starting to look like a vintage fair, and while we will always love brands with a strong history and tradition behind them (and we are pretty sure that we will want to take home plenty of stuff from C'H'C'M'), we can't help wondering what's coming next after an almost fetishistic period of looking back.

Critical Shopper: Basic Tools to Make Your Own Magic By Jon Caramanica (NYTimes)
C'H'C'M' 2 Bond Street at Broadway, NoHo