SAMPLE CIRCUIT: Looking To Next Week With J.Crew, Escada, Rag & Bone, Stella McCartney, Shipley & Halmos & Rodarte

Happy Thanksgiving Shophounders!
It's a long Holiday Weekend, so you aren't going to be hearing from us while we try to pace our Holiday food consumption. We'll be back next week, but while we all try to find ways to avoid Black Friday shopping idiocy (wouldn't you pay someone $50 not to have to go an electronics store at 5 AM just to save $50 on a TV?) we can start planning next week's Sample Sale shopping, and it's another big one.

We just added so much to our SALE ROLL on our left sidebar that we can't imagine how anyone woulf have time to hit all these sales, but here are nine major highlights before next Saturday:

ESCADA
Soiffer Haskin will be hosting this sesaonal clearance for fans of glamorous European RTW staring on Sunday the 1st.

RAG & BONE
This is a big, honking popular favorite returning to Chelsea Market on Monday the 2nd. Expect to wait in line if you want first pick. Discounts usually start at 50% Off, and the entrance is usually on 16th Street rather than through the market.

J.CREW
It's official. The latest thing this season is having multi-location sales. This one isn't too complicated. Women, Madewell and Crewcuts will be at 260 Fifth Avenue while a smaller selection of Men's merchandise will be across the street at 225 Fifth while it lasts. Sometimes there are great finds, but it should be noted that The Shophound just bought a men's shirt for $12 on sale in a regular J.Crew store, so sometimes the retail clearances can be more fruitful. Still, there's usually a huge line, so plan ahead. Starts Tuesday the 3rd.

YIGAL AZROUËL
The popular designer will also be including his less expensive CUT 25 label in this sale which is another popular fave starting Tuesday the 3rd.

STELLA McCARTNEY
Stella is opening her Friends & Family warehouse sale to the public for the first time. Expect collections from past seasons including her Adidas collaboration line. A portion of sales will benefit UNICEF's Phillipines relief efforts. Two days starting Wednesday the 4th.

WANT AGENCY
This is a compendium of hot, insider-y brands featuring Want les Essentials de la Vie, Maison Kitsuné, Nudie Jeans, Arc'teryx Veilance and SWIMS among others. Starts on Wednesday the 4th.

TABITHA SIMMONS
Stil loving towering platforms? Their greatest proponent is reportedly offering over 900 styles from previous and current collections. Starts Wednesday the 4th.

SHIPLEY & HALMOS
The menswear favorite returns this Thursday the 5th for two days featuring classic but cool sportswear. Last season the shoes were a huge hit. This showroom sale also reqires an early arrival for the best selection.

RODARTE
This one-day-only sale on Saturday the 7th attracts determined, high-fashion devotées who can fit into sample sizes, so be warned. Access is only through this RSVP email (click HERE), after which, the exact time and location will be revealed. Faithful regulars point to the ACE Hotel as the usual venue, but we can officially conform nothing.

Is that enough shopping for one week?
Keep an eye ou our SALE ROLL at left for details and more additions.

SECOND THOUGHTS: Atrium Wooster Makes A Holiday Window Adjustment

Sometimes, irreverence can go just s little bit too far.
The folks at the recently re-dubbed Atruim Wooster at the corner of Bleecker Street and Broadway found out that NoHo might not be the best place to throw a snarky expletive in the middle of what should still be a cheery holiday display. Originally, the store's plate glass window held a word in between 'Happy' and 'Holidays' that normally gets excised from movies not rated R, and one that we generally don't use on our blog (click HERE for the original image). Either too many complaints poured in, or the management may have realized that what seemed ironic in its conception looked somewhat more mean-spirited in its execution. At any rate, the store has replaced the offending word with a space for the adjective of your choice, though we must note that for anyone who has spent many a holiday season working in retail, the original sentiment seems perfectly appropriate.

Seemed like a good idea at the time., Fill in the blank. Happy (adjective) Holidays. (Nickwooster.com)

THE WINDOW WATCHER: Bergdorf Goodman's Holiday Windows Are As Spectacular As Ever

There are some things you can just rely on, and that is that the Holiday Windows on Bergdorf Goodman's Fifth Avenue storefront will be a lavish fantasy. This year the store stayed on form with five elaborate tableaux with theme, "Holidays On Ice". Of course, this makes us think of a long defunct figure skating show, but the conceit this year is actually representing frozen versions of holidays form the rest of the year, so we have frosty representations of Arbor Day, the Fourth of July, Valentine’s Day, Halloween and April Fool’s Day (pictured above). No, the image is not upside down, but the window is, because —April Fools! Smaller windows represent ever more holidays, and the best way to see them if you can't get down to the store is to check out Bergdorf's own blog where photographer Ricky Zehavi has dutifully documented them with more skill than we can —although we are planning to stop by after sunset soon to get some detail shots of our own. The flipped perspective is one of the store's Holiday window signatures, and BG fans will recognize other familiar elements. Our only criticism, and this is a mild one, is that there are perhaps too many of these recognizable touches in the windows, and the general aesthetic may run the risk of becoming a little bit too familiar over the years. This is a small quibble, however, Bergdorf's is still comfortably at the top of our Holiday Window list with little sign of slipping anytime soon.

Holiday Windows 2013: Holidays on Ice (5th at 58th/Bergdorf Goodman)

THIS WEEK ONLINE: Saint Laurent, Narciso Rodriguez, Jimmy Choo, Sergio Rossi, Jonathan Adler, Nanette Lepore, Derek Lam10 Crosby, Brioni, Miu Miu, Malo

Here is your weekly sampling of some of the brands you can expect to find on the bigger online Flash Sale Sites this week. You should click over to the sites themselves for a full schedule of events, and be sure to check for the correct start time for each sale. Happy clicking!

GILT GROUPE

Trina Turk, Sergio Rossi, Marie Chantal/Jacadi, Narciso Rodriguez, Elizabrth and James, Sam Edelman, Matteo Bedding, Madeleine Maternity, Vince Camuto, Gucci, Gemelli, Chip Foster, iLux Cashmere, Jack Eyes, Nicxk Point, Elie Tahari, Antonio Maurizi, Emporio Armani, KidCraft, Woolrich Boys, Azra Rugs, Nambé, D.L. & Co., Jonathan Adler, WMF/Kyocera —join HERE

RUE LA LA

Nanette Lepore, RED Valentino, Michael Stars, Safavieh, Theodora & Callum, Maker & Company, Robert Graham, Jimmy Choo, Gilchrist & Soames, Blissliving, Harney & Sons, Gucci Watches, Charriol, French Sole, Puma, Tacori, Butter, Cullen, Mary Margrill Fine Jewelry, ThomasDean, Tommy Bahama, Saint Laurent, Amrita Singh, Marc New York, Andrew Marc, Monster Headphones, Madame Alexander —join HERE

BELLE & CLIVE

Céline, Balenciaga, RED Valentino, Walter, Swia Legend, Melange Home, SEE by Chloé, Pippa Juieri Fine Jewelry, SaintLaurent, La Fiorentina, Brioni, Ermenegildo Zegna, Miu Miu, Hayden, Ben Sherman, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ben Amun, A. Testoni, John Varvatos ★ USA Accessories, Ben Minkoff, Robert Graham —join HERE

HAUTE LOOK

Joie, Gucci Watches, Steve Madden, Calvin Klein, OPI, Isabella Fiore, Vera Wang, Kelsi Dagger, Ryka, 2(X)IST, Lilac Maternity, Rachel Pally, BCBGMaxAzria, Mackage, Le Mystère, Sue Wong, Onna Ehrlich, Manas, Bucco, Bernhardt Furniture, Banksy NYC Tags & Bestsellers, Tommy Hilfiger, Ellen Tracy, Derek Lam 10 Crosby, Isaac Mizrahi, Hickey Freeman, Ivanka Trump, Swissco, Tateossian, Terzetto —join HERE

MY HABIT

Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Bruno Magli, Mason's, James Jeans, Leone Braconi Leather Goods, Earnest Sewn, Ben Sherman, Merkur Razors, Gordon Rush, Callaway, Breda Watches, London Fog, Alicia Adams Alpaca, Eastland, Rockport, Pur Cashmere —join HERE

VENTE PRIVEE

M-Clip, Oscar Blandi, Victorinox, Helmut Lang, Malo, Luv Eclipse, Claude Dozorme Cutlery, Salvatore Ferragamo, Cutter & Buck —join HERE

AUSPICIOUS ARRIVALS: Dover Street Market Opens In 1 Month

We have been waiting, and true to its promise that it would open beofre the end of the year, Dover Street Market will open its doors on December 21. The Saturday before Christmas is generally an odd date to debut a store what with it being right as pre-Holiday markdowns start to kick in, but Comme des Garçons, which owns the multibrand multi-level store, is clearly in it for the long haul, last-minute Christmas business be damned. We will soon know not whether customers will flock to the corner of 30th Street and Lexington Avenue for the store (We are pretty sure they will), but how, if at all,  an exclusive luxury store will affect the surrounding, slightly sleepy Murray Hill neighborhood. Will there be a gentrifying DSM effect on Murray Hill?

Included in the announcement is a list of labels to be available at DSMNY, as this third iteration of the international chain will be abbreviated. Along with some of the usual suspects like all of the Comme des Garçons brands and other shoo-ins like Saint Laurent, Thom Browne and Azzedine Alaïa, there are a few intriguing, unfamiliar names on the list, which goes as follows:

A.P.C., Aganovich, Alex Da Corte, Alexander Wang, Andre Walker, Ann Demeulemeester, Arakawa and Gins, ATTO, Azzedine Alaïa, Bamford Watch Department, Black Comme des Garçons, Calxvive, Casely Hayford, Casey Casey, Christopher Kane, Comme des Garçons, Comme des Garçons Comme des Garcons, Comme des Garçons Homme, Comme des Garçons Homme Plus, Comme des Garçons Shirt, Comme des Garçons Shirt Girl, Daniela Gregis, DSM Bag Space, DSM Jewellery Space, DSM Showroom, DSM Sneaker Space, DSM Shoe Space, DSM Sunglass Space, DSM Wall Shop, Erdem, Ganryu, Giambattista Valli, Good Design Shop, Graham Hudson, Greg Lauren, Jil Sander, Jonathan Saunders, Julien David, Junya Watanabe, Junya Watanabe Man, Juun J, J.W. Anderson, Katerina Jebb, Lauren Kelly, Lena Lumelsky, Leo Sewell, Lewis Leathers, London Fieldworks, Louis Vuitton, Magda Sayeg, Mark Cooper, Maison Rabih Kayrouz, Michael Costiff’s World Archive, Moscot, Nike, Nina Ricci, Noir Kei Ninomiya, Paco Rabanne, Peter Pilotto, Play Comme des Garçons, Prada, Raf Simons, Repossi, Rick Owens, Rose Bakery, Sacai, Saint Laurent, Simone Rocha, Supreme, Thom Browne, tricot Comme des Garçons, Undercover, Visvim, Yang Li and many, many more…

It's an interesting, eclectic mix. We can't wait to see how it all shakes out when it opens, so join us in marking our calendar for Saturday the 21st.

Dover Street Market New York opens December 21 at 160 Lexington Avenue at 30th Street, Murray Hill
Previously:
Under Construction: Dover Street Market Is Quietly Gestating In No Man's Land

UNEXPECTED TRANSITION: Ann Demeulemeester Bows Out

In perhaps the week's most surprising news, Belgian fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester has announced that she is leaving the company that bears her name. From all indications, her departure is amicable, and not the result of some kind of disagreement with the label's management. In 2005, the designer sold a controlling interest in her business to Anne Chapelle who had been working in the company since 1994. Chapelle also holds a similar stake in rising designer Haider Ackermann's brand. The two are run as separate ventures.

In a handwritten statement released yesterday, Demeulemeester says that she has achieved her dream of "having a voice in fashion", and that her label is an "adult brand with its own identity and legacy that is able to continue growing without me." One last collection under her direction for men and women will be shown this coming February, and, presumably, future lines will be created by the team she has left in place. No designated creative director has been named. 

It sounds like, much to the disappointment of her many fans, Demeulemeester has simply said all she has to say with clothes, and it has been quite a lot. As one of the "Antwerp Six" she brought attention to belgian designers in the 1980s along with Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs, Marina Yee and Walter Van Beirendonck by showing their collections together in Paris as a group. Demeulemeester developed a dark, moody, and widely admired signature that ably encompassed hard edged, rock and roll looks as well as lighter, more romantic styles. Singer Patti Smith was a particularly potent inspiration who occasionally collaborated with the designer herself. While many might ascribe the current craze for biker jackets and heavy boots to Hedi Slimane's Fall collection for Saint Laurent, Demeulemeester has been consistently offering such items for years.

She ended her public statement by writing, "I'm a happy and fulfilled person ready to create new challenges in life," and signing with a single X representing a kiss. Fashion will surely miss her, but she leaves the door open to the possibility that we may yet from her in some other way. We'll be waiting.

Ann Demeulemeester Exits Fashion (WWD)
View her farewell letter after the jump

 

FLAGSHIP FIZZLE: Juicy Couture's Fifth Avenue Brand Palace Gets Sold For $51 Million

Last month, the news of Juicy Couture's sale to Authentic Brands Group made us wonder what would become of the brand's extremely well-placed Manhattan retail stores, and now we have some confirmation of the disposition of its most important store, the Fifth Avenue flagship (pictured at right). Always owned by its parent company Fifth & Pacific (formerly Liz Claiborne), the lease to the store at 650 Fifth Avenue has been sold back to its landlords for a tidy $51 million. Since Juicy's retail locations were not part of the brand's sale, most assumed that the stores would be converted to Kate Spade shops, the final remaining Claiborne-owned brand that Fifth & Pacific is putting its investment behind. The Fifth Avenue store seemed to be a bit large even for a growing company like Kate Spade, and now it will be up to its landlords to find a new tenant to take it —preferably one with the deep pockets it now takes to afford a store of that scale on Fifth Avenue's most expensive stretch.

There are a couple more stores whose dispositions are yet to be confirmed, however. Juicy's Bleecker Street store is one of the largest spaces on that particular boutique laden shopping strip. It could easily convert to Kate Spade, especially since brother Jack Spade's boutique is only a few steps away. On Madison Avenue, there is also a two-level Juicy store on the corner of 70th Street. It could be converted as well, except that Kate Spade recently opened a splashy flagship only a couple of blocks away. It is too big for Jack, or simply too rich, with neighbors like Prada, Tom Ford, Gucci and Céline? We are betting that this landlord will also have a chance to regain the lease, and like those at 650 Fifth, re-rent the space at a much, much higher rate. Stay tuned. A prize spot on Madison is probably about to become available.

As for Juicy's future, its new owners will be taking the brand in a different driection, or at least repositioning it definitively. The latest news has the brand joining Kohl's lineup of labels, which is a far cry from lavish Fifth Avenue flagship territory.

Fifth & Pacific Companies, Inc. Agrees To Early Temination Of The Juicy Couture Flagship Store Lease In Exchange For $51 Million (Press release via Racked)
Previously:
Changing Hands: Juicy Couture Is Sold Is The Fifth Avenue Flagship Included?

THE WINDOW WATCHER: Have A Look At Barneys' Holiday Window Instagram Videos

This week is an extravaganza of Holiday Window unveilings around the city with ever more fanfare for each marketing opportunity. This season, Barneys has taken a different approach after a couple seasons of disappointing post-Simon Doonan efforts. This time, the store has teamed up with French visual artist Joanie Lemercier to present four interactive intallations featuring light shows, high-tech 3D imagery and a futuristic Santa and Mrs. Clause portrayed by performers from the improv group Upright Citizens Brigade. Despite being embattled in so many other ways this Holiday Season, it looks like the store has finally found a way to distinguish itself both from other store's displays and it's own heritage of irreverent, comical Holiday windows. Because of their kinetic nature, Barneys smartly debuted the windows virtually via Instagram videos which you can see embedded below and after the jump.

First up, REFLECTIONS, an ever changhing light show based on a broken-off fragment of the city.

ALEXANDRA JACOBS GOES SHOPPING: Sparkle Overload Edition

This week's Critical Shopper Alexandra Jacobs makes her way to Brooklyn to check out the borough's latest validation as a bona fide shopping destination: A Swarovski store. Congratulations, Brooklyn. You're almost like a real mall now. Jacobs approaches the assignment with a certain amount of skepticism, because, you know, store full of sparkles. 

Swarovski stores are not, after all, an unknown quantity. This would be the area's 10th, so we're all pretty familiar. Mostly, Jacobs tells us about Swarovski the company in all its many divisions, than about the actual stores, which simply sounds like a place filled with glittery jewelry and pricey, crystal festooned curios of questionable taste. They may seem acceptable taken one by one, but all together, they create an overwhelming effect even for those who normally like shiny things just fine,

USB keys glinted with ersatz amethyst in a nearby vitrine. Even the stems on a pair of martini glasses were fully loaded. It felt like the visual equivalent of having pop music play in your head all day (and that was happening, too).

Sounds like... a Swarovski store.

Critical Shopper: Swarovski’s New Outpost, a Look on the Bright Side By Alexandra Jacobs (NYTimes)
Swarovski 484 Fulton Street between Bond Street & Elm Place, Brooklyn

TREASURE TROVE: Jewels By JAR At The Met Is Jewelry Like You Have Never Seen Before

As humans, we are often given to hyperbole when describing shiny things, or things that give us pleasure in general. How many times have we seen the "best movie ever" or eaten the "best ice cream in the world" or had People Magazine tell us that someone is the "Sexiest Man Alive" with a definitiveness that is really questionable at best? Well, The Shophound spent quite a bit of time yesterday morning looking over The Metropolitan Museum of Art's newest exhibition, Jewels by JAR, and we are comfortable saying without overstatement that we have never seen jewelry like this before, and we have seen a decent amount of jewelry in our time.

You may wonder if, after seeing this display of artistry and craftsmanship, your own jewelry might start to look a little crappy?
It probably will, at least for a little while. Don't let that keep you away.
On our way home from the Museum, we passed by a jeweler renowned for creativity and finely detailed work, and everything we saw in the window suddenly looked a little bit crude by comparison. We expect to get over this, but it just serves to point out how the jewels on display at the Met are simply on another level from most anything you can buy in even the finest store.

You may also wonder why a jewelry exhibition at the museum is not being staged by the Costume Institute, but due to the Met's particular curatorial guidelines, precious jewels fall under the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art. Perhaps this is why exhibition curator Jane Adlin, an Assistant Curator in the department, approached the material as sculpture in the form of jewelry, rather than as a collection of accessories. It works because JAR, also known as Bronx born Joel A. Rosenthal, approaches his work the same way, applying the same kind of detail to a jeweled tulip brooch like the one pictured above that a Dutch master would to a painting of the very same flower. While a world renowned jeweler on the Place Vendôme in Paris might make a perfectly lovely flower brooch out of rubies, diamonds and platinum to justify a stratospheric luxury price. A few doors down, in his own exclusive atelier, Rosenthal might use those same materials, but also add aluminum, lowly zircons or garnets, titanium, enamel or any other seemingly random ingredient that will achieve the kind of visual effect he is after. The value in his work is not only in precious materials, but more so in his artistic rendering. This is why we can look at a case full of his flower brooches and earrings and marvel at how each one is unique as he uses different techniques to create a geranium, a spray of fern leaves, or a camellia, or any number of other flora. There are fauna, too. A wall festooned with glittering butterfly and dragonfly brooches proved a magnet for viewers at the preview. We can't tell you of they were based on actual insects or were fantasy designs, but it hardly mattered. Lightning, mushrooms, owls and even a scoop of melting ice cream are among the many things rendered by Rosenthal in the exhibition. Because of the way the more than 400 objects are presented, you don't have to be a jewelry lover or imagine how one would wear them to appreciate them as art. In fact, they are presented very much apart from the presumed wearers, most of whom maintained their anonymity in lending pieces to the show. There are no photos of people wearing any of the items, and even the displays avoid any illusion to the body. Like any other piece of fine art, the jewels' practical uses are beside the point.

The show is a big deal for the notoriously press-shy Rosenthal. It is the first major exhibition of his work in the U.S., covering the entirety of his career including pieces he hand delivered himself direct from his atelier. It is also the first retrospective at the Met of a living, still working jeweler. Rosenthal works exclusively by appointment. He doesn't sell to other retailers. He doesn't send pieces to magazines or lend them to actresses for red carpet events. In fact, if someone wears one of his pieces, you can bet it is because it has been bought and paid for and probably made exclusively for them. Unless you run in the same circles as JAR clients, this show may be one of the few opportunities you will ever have to see his work in person. In a rare move, he has created a small line of earrings and watches to be sold exclusively at the Museum through the duration of the show. The watches are $600 each, and the earring start at $2000 for styles in resin and go to $7,500 for a pair in gold covered aluminum (pictured in the gallery below). These are truly below-entry level prices for JAR jewels, and are likely to sell quickly to jewelry fans. During a brief Q & A with Adlin during the preview, she was asked about the price range of the pieces in the exhibition. Bristling a bit at the thought, she eventually explained that the museum never comments on the value of anything it displays, which led us to the old adage, "If you have to ask the price, you probably can't afford it."
See our gallery below for pictures from the Met's press office, some photos of our own and a few of the JAR pieces available exclusively at the museum store.

Jewels By JAR at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 20, 2013 - March 9 2013

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•