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