SALE ALERTS: Surprise Herschel Supply One Day Sale Hits Today Along With Atelier New York's Clearance

Two sales of note have come to our attention at the last minute, but we didn't want any readers to miss out.
The most pressing event is HERSCHEL SUPPLY CO.'s surprise one day pop-up sale in midtown starting at 10 AM. Herschel's backpack sales have been known to spark block-long lines, so this is a must for fans. They will be sharing space on West 39th street with NATIVE SHOES offering innovative, contemporary footwear for men and women at up to 50% off.

Also starting today, elusive designer boutique ATELIER NEW YORK is kicking off its clearance sale with 70% off its directional designer collections including labels like Maison Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester, Balmain, Rick Owens, the coveted Vetements, and more. Once known as an avant-garde men's store, Atelier has recently added womenswear as well, so it should be great opportunity for late-summer savings for everybody.

Be sure to check our SALE ROLL sidebar at left for hours, locations and other details, and good shopping luck!

NO YOGA MAT REQUIRED: Have We Reached Peak Athleisure With Lululemon Lab?

Nobody loves a catchy trend name more than the fashion industry, and nobody loves a portmanteau word more than the internet, which makes Athleisure an instantly annoying concept. Having said that, there's no denying that Lululemon, the yoga-focused athletic wear brand that has spurred crazes and backlashes at a headspinning rate, is partially responsible for the popularity of wearing yoga-pants as everyday-wear. It stands to reason, then, that the logical next step for the label would be to simply expand into sportswear made with no particular performance purpose, so now we have the brand new Lululemon Lab boutique that opened last week on Bond Street on NoHo.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the store is the near banishment of company's actual name, as if it is somehow manifesting its own corporate shame over recent controversies by suppressing its very name in favor of its circular insignia that is subtly imprinted only on the inside of garments. Even the sign outside shows only the symbol and the word "lab".
Inside, there is not a yoga pant to be found. Instead, high tech athletic fabrics are fashioned into minimalistic sportswear pieces that are meant to look more at home out on the town. To the brand's credit, the sophisticated materials look good in their Rick Owens-lite incarnations offering bonded seams and laser cutting that wouldn't make anyone look like they just dashed out of the gym.
This is Lululemon Lab's first U.S. store —it has one other in Vancouver— and it is smartly nestled amongst some of the most notable condos in NoHo just a few doors away from Billy Reid. Though the merchandise is sportswear, several of the women we saw shopping there yesterday afternoon were obviously on their way to/from yoga class drawn in by the logo on the sign not knowing that the store was a new brand concept. Athletic companies branching into sportswear is nothing new.  Adidas has its SLVR and Y-3 collections, and Moncler has transformed its image with its designer Gamme Rouge and Gamme Bleu collections, but time will tell us whether or not Lululemon has enough clout to join their ranks and dress its customers for the rest of the day.

Lululemon Lab 50 Bond Street between The Bowery & Lafayette Street, NoHo

 

INCOMING IMPORT: Boglioli Will Raise Bond Street's Fashion Quotient This Spring

Bond Street may not get the quite hype of SoHo, The Meatpacking District or Bleecker Street, but it has quietly been a satisfying micro-neighborhood for shoppers looking for slightly less mainstream labels in NoHo. That tony 2-block stretch between Broadway and The Bowery is also home to some very flashy modern residential buildings, and one of the newest at 10 Bond Street will be home to the first U.S. store for Italian clothing label Boglioli. The 2-level store at the corner of Lafayette Street is slated to open this Spring according to its windows, a time frame that technically begins this weekend. Known for its softly constructed, lushly hued version of Milanese sprezzatura, the label has only a handful of shops worldwide, but is on an expansion kick that also includes a newly named creative director, Davide Marello, whose first collection will hit stores this fall. Boglioli will be joined in the building by New York City's first store for of U.S.-made yoga-wear chain Yogasmoga slated for later this Spring.

Boglioli (Official Site)
Yogasmoga (Official Site)

JON CARAMANICA GOES SHOPPING: Man In Fashion Edition

Today's Thursday Styles brings a bit of an unexpected twist as the Critical Shopper sends its menswear guy, Jon Caramanica, to the new 3.1 Phillip Lim store in NoHo. Even though Lim has made menswear for several seasons now, we would typically have expected this review to come from Lady Critical Shopper Alexandra Jacobs, but she is presumably busy in Paris covering the Spring Collections. Rather than reviewing the store itself, our shopper stays on his side of the aisle and focuses on the clothes, which he finds rather intoxicating —especially a $1,200 blanket coat found presiding "high on a platform, like the Christ the Redeemer statue that gazes out over Rio" over the men's section

So I wore it for a few minutes — in my size, which was preposterously large, and the size down, which was almost preposterously large. I looked like the Fisher King. I looked like Vincent (The Chin) Gigante. I looked a little ridiculous. I loved it.

And here lies the endless challenge of Men's Fashion: finding the balance between what is new and interesting without descending into clown costume territory. And then one has to contend with silly bloggers who will snark about any men's apparel item that diverges from the norm (or often even complies with it) by using condescending words like "mandals", "meggings" or "mankles" —not really helpful to anyone trying to propel men's style forward through the 21st Century. Thankfully, we have Mr. Caramanica, a guy who is undeterred by the snickering skeptics, happy to explore in search of the new, and even have his long-held beliefs about trompe-l'oeil design effects challenged. Every store needs more like him.

Critical Shopper: Trying on a Persona By Jon Caramanica (NYTimes)
3.1 Phillip Lim 48 Great Jones Street between Lafayette Street & The Bowery, NoHo

ALEXANDRA JACOBS GOES SHOPPING: Boho Brides In NoHo Edition

In order to fully appreciate Alexandra Jacobs' Critical Shopper column in today's Thursday Styles, one might have to have more of an interest in the peculiar rituals of the bride-to-be than The Shophound does. Even if one finds such pursuits enthralling, as so many reality TV shows would seem to demonstrate, the bridal shop is really something that one can really only make use of a few times in one's life, hopefully, and it sounds like Stone Fox Bride is really more interested in the honeymoon anyway —or as many honeymoons as any happy couple is willing to take. Not so surprising for a store whose name comes from dated '70s slang, and suggests $18 penis-shaped candles (link NSFW) as a complement to one's trousseau. This sounds like a place for the Vera Wang-averse. Even so, the store does have its limits,

...I encountered only one contradiction to the anything-goes house philosophy espoused by its co-founder, Molly Guy. “You can see the pasty,” a salesclerk asked to a blooming young brunette, referring to the minimal nipple cover. “We don’t want pics with pasties staring at us.”

Of course, for the bride whose fashion role model is more Rihanna than Princess Di, pasties would have been rendered unnecessary anyway, and this would have to be the bridal store for her.

Critical Shopper: You Can Skip the Fitting, Mom By Alexandra Jacobs (NYTimes)
Stone Fox Bride 611 Broadway between Bleecker & Houston Streets, NoHo

JON CARMANICA GOES SHOPPING: Downtown Heritage Edition

After a couple of weeks off, The Critical Shopper is back in today's Thursday Styles as Jon Caramanica gives us the report on two new arrivals downtown. Filson (at right), is the archetypical American heritage label that is entering the "flagship expansion" phase of its resurgence, while the 84-years-younger Will Leather Goods comes from Eugene, Oregon with a similarly rugged aesthetic, but far less history. Both stores seem to bring a different piece if the Pacific Northwest to downtown Manhattan with the eternal hippie thriving on Will's product laden walls, and Filson's rugged outdoorsman holding court at Filson. It is here that Caramanica discovers the hazards that a specialized, sportsman's brand will face when broadening its market to include fashion cognoscenti. It turns out the the "updated" slimmer cut apparel is no improvement over the roomy authentic original styles "From a distance, the silhouettes were the worst. Even when a piece fit snugly, it still managed to seem oversize and clung to the body in unpredictable ways." And then there are the customers, or, more specifically, brand enthusiasts,

The Filson clerk relayed a story about a customer who had recently come in and complained that the store wasn’t true enough to the brand’s essence, that it wasn’t carrying the most rugged of the company’s offerings. Brands like Filson, which are bolstered by history but also burdened by it, tend to inspire this sort of keep-it-real-itis.

Some people will never be satisfied.

Critical Shopper: Two Paths to the Great Outdoors By Jon Caramanica (NYTimes)
Filson 40 Great Jones Street between Broadway & Bowery, NoHo
Will Leather Goods 29 Prince Street at Mott Street, NoLiTa

RELOCATION REDEFINITION: Original Penguin's New NoHo Flagship Launches The Brand's Next Phase

It may have seemed like a simple relocation when Original Penguin moved its SoHo boutique a few blocks North to Broadway and Bond Street, but there's a little bit more to it than that. Yesterday afternoon, The Shophound was invited downtown to see how a charming, vintage-y label that has done very well by trading on its history of dressing stars like Clint Eastwood and Frank Sinatra for the golf links is ready to evolve into a modern lifestyle sportswear brand with a new store concept ready to lead the way. Any heritage driven brand will hit the wall with nostalgia appeal at some point, and the folks at Original Penguin are cleverly broadening their appeal with updated design for both its products and its stores to reach a millennial customer who may be getting maxed-out on all that vintage inspired style any minute now. To that end, the retro-style orange-accented interior scheme of the SoHo store has been replaced with sleek walnut wood and crisp white walls with a giant, blue backlit logo on the rear wall for maximum branding effect. A little more space makes for an easier shopping experience as the new shop now has space to highlight the signature "Earl Polo" shirt, a new basic khaki program in updated colors and fits and expanded accessories collections. This isn't just a store relocation, however. The new NoHo store is now Original Penguin's global flagship, and the concept will eventually be rolled out to all of brand's stores (including the other New York City location on Sixth Avenue opposite Bryant Park) as well as the 20 or so units planned to open worldwide this year alone. The updated Original Penguin has been tapped as an expansion vehicle for parent company Perry Ellis International, so expect to see more of the brand's stores appearing in malls and shopping areas soon. Full disclosure: for our trouble, The Shophound was invited to pick a few pieces of the line for ourself, but we didn't need much encouragement to shop. If the brand has gone overboard with '50s-style novelty looks in the past, customers will find a more modern, slimmed down look to the product line as the company positions itself at a new level and gets ready to take on the Banana Republics and J.Crews of the market. See a few more views of the new store in the gallery below. 

Original Penguin now open at 654 Broadway at Bond Street, NoHo

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NEW CHAPTERS: Atrium To Transform As Nick Wooster Takes A Stake

Everybody loves a makeover.
Look for a whole new Atrium at Broadway and Bleecker Street soon. Veteran retail executive and and style-blogger favorite Nick Wooster has puchased a partnership in the mini-chain and will become the creative director for its NoHo and Brooklyn locations. To underscore the change in direction, the stores will be renamed Atrium Wooster. The third location in Miami beach will not be renamed and, presumably, will not be affected by the changes. Atrium owner Sam Ben-Avraham admitted to WWD that the 20-year-old store had peaked somewhat around 2005-7 with the explosion of the premium denim market, but has slowed down sice then. Earlier this year, Atrium dropped women's merchandise, becoming a men's only store, making it a good fit for Wooster, whose background is primarily in designer menswear. “I’ve always thought of myself as a retailer. Anybody can pick fantastic product, but you have to be able to make money too,” he tells WWD, “I’m very interested in traditional men’s wear and nontraditional men’s wear, and the store will reflect that.” Most recently the senior vice president of brand, trend and design for J.C. Penney during the brief tenure of Ron Johnson as its President, Wooster has also been Men's Fashion Director at Nieman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman as well as an adviser for Gilt Groupe. In addition to that, he has been behind a variety of menswear collaborations including swimwear with Orlebar Brown, cashmere knitwear with Drumohr, accessories with Want les Essentials de la Vie, Hamilton Shirts and luxury shoe store Leffot, but it is his ever growing popularity as an internet style icon beloved by bloggers that is likely to have brought him to Ben-Avraham's attention. He ranks among the most photographed figures during Fashion Week, and is also active on Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram. He even made his runway modeling debut for designer Mark McNairy earlier this week (pictured above).  Wooster is expected to increase the internet presence of the new Atrium whose homepage is currently under construction. While his full impact on the store won't be felt until next Fall, expect to hear more and more buzz about the once fading store now set for a promising transformation.

Nick Wooster Buys Stake in Atrium (WWD)
Nick Wooster (Official Tumblr)

SALE UPDATE: The Odin & Pas De Deux Clearance Is Better Than Barneys Warehouse Sale + What Goes Around Comes Around & DKNY Sales

Normally, The Shophound doesn't report on special sales in the middle of their runs, but when The Odin and Pas De Deux Clearance Sale began, we were busy bitching and moaning about how much the Barneys Warehouse Sale sucked. Usually, the Warehouse is the grand finale for our clearance shopping season, but as it was such a disappointment this season, and since the fine folks at Odin -one of our favorite NYC stores- reminded us of their two-week long clearance consolidation, we trucked on down to East 11th Street to see if what they had to offer.

Stuffed into Odin's tiny Annex, the sale is a little bit cramped and crowded, as we expected, but we would rather squeeze our way into an undersized space full of good bargains than wander around around a Chelsea basement looking for something, anything, that we would want. Odin's tight racks included great pieces from last Fall and previous seasons from designers like Duckie Brown, Mark McNairy, Engineered Garments, Todd Snyder, Burkman Brothers, Thom Brown, Oliver Spencer and others. Even after a week, there were still worthwhile buys left at around 75% off the original prices. The center tables were still piled high with sweaters, and throughout the store, there were shoes from Florsheim by Duckie Brown and Common Projects. A few feet away on the Pas De Deux side there was slightly less merchandise, but still good pieces from Richard Chai, Carven, Thakoon Addition and Alexander Wang. Another plus: since the space is tiny, you can tell pretty quickly if there is anything you will want, and then you can stop next door and check out what's new for Spring at the side-by-side brother and sister stores.

If you want to make a day of shopping downtown, this week also offers a DKNY Sample Sale at 260 Fifth Avenue that by all reports is stuffed full of merchandise at deep discounts. For the quirkier minded, vintage emporium What Goes Around Comes Around is celebrating the last week of its Lafayette Street pop-up store (pictured below) by taking 70% off the ticket price of everything in the store. That includes vintage items, which will now sell for thrift shop prices, and lots of brand-new never worn items from the store's vintage inspired private label collection for men and women. That's three good sales in one week, which should please anyone whose hankering for bargains was left unsatisfied by Barneys Warehouse

The Odin and Pas De Deux Clearance Sale Ends Sunday March 10th at 330 East 11th Street Between First & Second Avenues, East Village
DKNY Sample Sale Ends Saturday March 9th at 260 Fifth Avenue at 28th Street, Flatiron District
What Goes Around Comes Around Pop-up store Ends Saturday March 9th at 440 Lafayette Street at Astor Place, NoHo

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