COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: Alexander Wang Confirmed His Adidas Collaboration And Then Sold It Out Of The Back Of A Truck

It was a big weekend for Alexander Wang. On Saturday night, he showed his Spring 2017 collection to rapturous reviews and also took the opportunity to confirm weeks of buzz about an upcoming collaboration with Adidas by sending it down the runway as his finale. While Wang did not join the see-now-buy-now bandwagon, he, along with his new athletic wear partner, made nine pieces and one shoe style of the upcoming Adidas Originals x Alexander Wang collection available to eager fans by setting up three one-hour pop-up events on Sunday in SoHo, Midtown and McCarren Park in Brooklyn. Thanks to the magic of modern social media Wang fans were fully alerted within moments of the end of the show, and less than 24 hours later were ready and waiting to form a line that stretched the extra-long block of Mercer Street between Canal and Grand Streets by the first noon call-time (pictured below). In keeping with the location, Wang decided to literally sell the limited production of preview items out of the back of a truck, evoking the all but lost counterfeit contraband nature of the mostly banished neighborhood knock-off merchants. Shoppers were strictly limited to one each of four items to minimize rapid reselling on eBay, and carried their purchases in black garbage-type bags tied with white Alexander Wang ribbons —in keeping with the contraband theme. The all-black limited edition items, including graphic tees, a jacquard jacket, hoodies, football shorts and a skate sneaker ranging in price from $80 to $230 sold out predictably quickly.
Along with the blink-and-you'll-miss-them pop-ups, Wang released some campaign images by photographer Juergen Teller which show, again, an almost entirely black collection that takes Adidas' signature three stripes and reverses them to emphasize their outlines along with an inverted Adidas trefoil insignia. It turns out that the dreaded portmanteau "Athleisure" is alive and well, but may have reached its peak with this collaboration. The rest f the 84-piece collection will his stores for the spring delivery season, so if you absolutely must be ahead of the general public, then you will have to make plans on September 17th when the trucks will be traveling to major international cities to repeat the pop-up events.

See the Adidas Originals x Alexander Wang campaign images after the jump

CELEBRETAIL: Kanye West's Life Of Pablo Store Returns This Weekend

Click image for a larger view in a new window

Perhaps you camped out in line this past Spring to grab an exclusive piece of Kanye West's tour merchandise at his SoHo pop-up shop. If you didn't, you have a second chance this weekend, as West's Life of Pablo pop-up stores are not only returning to New York and L.A., but also to 19 other cities worldwide where fans will be able to buy exclusive 'Pablo' tour goods. As shown above, the NYC edition will be opening on Friday morning on the northern edge to TriBeCa at 393 Broadway between Walker and White Streets, easily accessible by the A,C and E trains and not far from the 1. Last spring, the New York shop reportedly grossed a cool $1 million over a single weekend of selling tees and jackets and hoodies along with a few special vintage pieces, so a larger scale return seems like a no-brainer. It also marks a major expansion the concept of selling tour goods somewhere outside the tour venues so they can be available to fans whether they have gotten to see the show or not. Justin Bieber has been selling tour merchandise from his latest tour in stores ranging from Barneys to Target, but leave it to Kanye to exert a bit more control and exclusivity over his tour shops. Other cities to be graced with a pop-up  include London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Cape Town, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Portland, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Toronto. Don't confuse this with the Yeezy x Adidas stores that the designer is planning with the athletic wear giant for his newly reconceived fashion collection. That should be coming sometime next year, but in the meantime, brace yourself for some crowds just south of Canal Street this weekend. Find other pop-up store locations on West's website, where an interactive map will direct you to the nearest location.

(WWD)

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!

TIDY KICKS: Jason Markk's Sneaker Cleaning Shop Plans An NYC Pop-Up This Montn

Image: JasonMarkk.com

Did you buy some spanking-fresh, white Adidas Stan Smiths a couple of years ago?
Have you been dutifully wearing them with everything?
Are they now a little bit (or a lot) less bright and white than they once were?
If you have been searching for ways to restore their fresh look, then you may have stumbled upon Jason Markk, who has turned sneaker maintenance into a new industry by creating products that allow collectors, enthusiasts and just regular old sneaker wearers to stave off the inevitable moment when their beloved kicks finally, just "die" from wear and tear.  Markk's sneaker care kits have shown up in retailers ranging from J.Crew to footwear temple Kith, and he has finally opened his own flagship concept store in Los Angeles (pictured right) where you can drop off your shoes for a refresh just as if it were a dry cleaner. Services range from a $10 Classic Clean to the $65 Purple Label Detail featuring a deep cleaning and reconditioning of beloved sneakers. The good news for New Yorkers is that, according to the New York Times, Markk is bringing this in-store service to New York City with a pop-up shop from June 18th to the 26th at the Footaction store on 14th Street. Hopefully, this will be a test for a more permanent East Coast outpost, because you don't have to be a raging sneakerhead to feel the pangs of regret at eventually having to relegate a favorite pair of hard to find Nikes or Adidas to the trash heap because you have chosen to actually wear them instead of keeping them preserved for posterity.

Jason Markk Pop-Up at Footaction Star Club, 22 East 14th Street between Fifth Avenue & University Place, Union Square
Scuffed-Up Sneakers? No Way By Steven Kurutz (NYTimes)

POP-UP ALERT: Kanye West Is Having A Pop-Up Shop In SoHo Today Through Sunday

PABLO POP-UP SHOP MARCH 18-20 FRI 4-8 PM SAT SUN 12-8 PM AT 83 WOOSTER IN NYC pic.twitter.com/j1t9Ng5JkO

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 17, 2016

Here at The Shophound, we admit we have not been at the forefront of breathlessly covering the fashion comings and goings of celebrity vortex Kanye West, but it might be remiss of us not to pass along the intriguing information that he is holding a pop-up shop in SoHo starting today at 4 PM through Sunday on Wooster Street.
From the above tweet, it would seem that the shop is centered around his current, constantly changing album, The Life Of Pablo. It isn't the first time he has had album-related pop-up shops, but this particular release doesn't seem to be following any conventional formula. There's also the vague possibility that this is where he will release his Yeezy Season 2 collection, or at least some of it, since, as far as we can tell, it has not appeared at all in any retail stores despite his already having extravagantly shown a Season 3 line during New York Fashion Week last month. Or perhaps Season 2 will never come out since Adidas refused to produce the apparel items because they were too expensive. Who knows?
If you are a Kanye fan, then you will want to hightail it down to SoHo as soon as possible.
If you hate mob scenes, then you will know to steer clear of Wooster Street between Broome and Spring Streets this afternoon.

HOLIDAY OASIS: TRNK Joins Bespoken For A Serene Holiday Shop

As any New Yorker knows, shopping in Midtown between Thanksgiving and New Years can be a trial. The combination of Holiday shoppers and high season tourists can make simply walking up Fifth Avenue a sidewalk-rage inducing experience. Of course, finding quieter, out of the way places to shop can be its own challenge, but the curated men's lifestyle website TRNK and the sophisticated menswear label Bespoken have joined forces for a Holiday pop-up shop that will solve thee problems and make you never want to set foot into a department store again. . . at least for a while anyway.
Part of the reason why the shop is such a pleasure is that it is discreetly tucked away at the Bespoken showroom on the seventh floor of the East 57th Street building that houses its related brand, Turnbull & Asser (Bespoken co-founders Sammy and Liam Fayed's father Ali Al-Fayed has owned Turnbull & Asser for the past three decades or so). Discreetly but not inconveniently tucked away away from the bustle below, the showroom has been transformed by TRNK's co-founders Tariq Dixon and Nick Nemechek into a cozy lounge where everything is for sale combining the best gift picks from their Holiday offerings and the Bespoken line. That sleek walnut and brass bar cart can be yours for a mere $1,650, but not everything extends into the four-figure realm. There are cleverly designed desk accessories, wool throws, barware and even the rugs can be yours. Everything is skillfully chosen to complement the Bespoken clothes on display including sumptuous sweaters, knitted cashmere caps and a particularly appealing shirt in lofty brushed cotton with high-tech taped seams. The shop will be open to the public through Christmas and private appointments can scheduled by email or by phone. Of course, if you can't make it in, most of the merchandise can be purchased through the companies respective websites as well.

Bespoken x TRNK Holiday Pop-Up Shop through December 25th at 50 East 57th Street, 7th Floor, Midtown 646.684.3934

See a closer look at the shop after the jump

MOLLY YOUNG GOES SHOPPING: Middle Of the Road On 5th Avenue Edition

In this week's Thursday Styles, Critical Shopper Molly Young discovers the Lands' End pop-up store on Fifth Avenue, but what strikes The Shophound is not so much her assessment of the store, but her childhood take on the mail.
"There were days as a kid when I was so bored, I organized my entire day around the mail delivery"
As a a kid, in the pre-digital era, the mail delivery could be a magical moment. There are so many potential delights in the mailbox like magazines or catalogs and always knowing that none of the bills are for you.
This is all get to the point that the boring old Lands' End catalog that she would discover pushed through the mail slot has come to life in Midtown Manhattan where she notes that the updated, elevated merchandise seems to co-exist among the same bland goods seem that have been populating the catalog for 30. Maturity seems to have given her a new appreciation for practical but potentially dowdy Land's End standards like full length a down coat's versatile zippers and hood, "The younger me would have been blind to these components, but time has a way of turning defects into assets. Now I just want to be weatherproof," she writes. The vanity sizing doesn't hurt either.
Ultimately, our shopper isn't all that excited by the store or its gimmicks like a "selfie station", which reveals itself as a trope to capture customer information, but manages to walk away with a very Lands' End-y purchase, new gloves. The store's general modestly seems counterintuitively refreshing among the forced Holiday merriment that descends upon retailers the end of the year. "If the store were a party, it would be the kind where the guests are gone and the dishes washed by 11 p.m.," and sometime that's just enough.

Critical Shopper: Lands’ End Updates Its Image By Molly Young (NYTimes)
Lands' End Holiday Pop-Up Shop 650 Fifth Avenue at 52nd Street, Midtown
Previously:
Pop-Up Proliferation: Nautica & Lands' End Pop-Ups Push Upscale

POP-UP ALERT: Gwyneth Goes Live At Columbus Circle's GOOP MRKT

For whatever reason, Gwyneth Paltrow has become one of those celebrities that "the internet" just loves to try to take down a peg or two. Is it just a result of being a successful flaxen-haired beauty who has an Oscar? Who knows, but when she started Goop, her email newsletter turned lifestyle enterprise, people really got their hackles up despite the venture's obvious success and warm reception among her actual fans. Paltrow has brought her business to another level today by opening Goop MRKT, a Holiday pop-up store at The Shops at Columbus Circle which will run through December 24th. This is her fourth Goop shop, but her first in Manhattan. We are sure that her band of critics will have their knives out, but, honestly, when The Shophound breezed by the shop earlier today, we couldn't find a great deal to criticize. The modestly sized shop neat the 58th Street entrance to the shopping center has been spruced up with a paint job, some judiciously applied moldings and a few eclectic chandeliers. While we will not exhaustively catalog the contents of the shop, we can say with confidence that if this is an expression of her personal style and favorite items, then the woman has some damned good taste.
There are three sections, with one each devoted to food, cosmetics and fragrances and fashion. The food section, which includes a cappuccino machine presumably installed to serve customers, features a combination of cookbooks, new items like Staub cast iron cookware and antique pieces like a particularly eye-catching set of green and white Bavarian chinaware in the window among other items. In the next section there are soaps, fragrances and other cosmetic items, but the main thrust of the store appears to be fashion and accessories, including an exclusive capsule collection of star-spangles separates inspired by Wonder Woman designed by Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri for Valentino. There are antique watches and jewelry items mixed in with brand new accessories, and the label roster includes labels like Nili Lotan, Carven and Stella McCartney to name a few. For a pop-up, it seems quite well merchandised, more like something that could sustain itself far longer than 31 days, perhaps indefinitely. Is it expensive? Sure, but so are about a thousand other stores in New York, so that's hardly much of a criticism. Really there was only one thing that we could find to criticize —that name, Goop MRKT. 
What? You're too good for vowels now, Gwyneth?

Goop MRKT through December 24th at 10 Columbus Circle at 58th Street, Upper West Side

POP-UP PROLIFERATION: Nautica & Lands' End Pop-Ups Push Upscale

Let's just put it out there, The Shophound can sometimes be easily swayed by food.
The prompt offer of hot chocolate and cookies from the nearby City Bakery upon our entrance to Nautica's Holiday season pop-up store (pictured above) in the Flatiron District a couple of days ago was a smart move on the part of the moderate department store mainstay brand. We declined the cookies, mainly because we didn't want to look like too much of a hog, but who can pass up City Bakery hot chocolate? That's not some cheap cup of Swiss Miss, and besides, it forced us to browse for at least long enough to finish sipping our rich and creamy treat.
Oh, yeah, the store. Why we found there was a bit different from what you'll come across in pretty much every Macy's in America. Nautica, like nearly every middle of the road menswear brand is looking to capture an upscale customer who won't be caught in a moderate department store. That's why they have made a special collection for the shop, which features luxurious cabled cashmere sweaters and a sweet raw denim peacoat in place of the more prosaic chinos, windbreakers and polo shirts that the brand is known for. To complement the offerings, Nautica has added Jeans from 7 for All Mankind and Jansport backpacks instead of counterparts from their own brand to mimic the label mixing at the stores like J.Crew and Club Monaco whose customers it hopes to attract. In addition, the store is relaunching the Nautica women's line in the U.S. with similarly uplifted items. Will the gambit work? Nautica's signature navy and white palette has classic appeal at any price point, and boating as a pastime always has an air of the upper classes about it. It remains to be seen if Nautica will be embraced by the more affluent customer it is chasing after so many years of stylish runway shows snd presentations of collections never seemed to fully materialize at retail, but the store shows that the brand can make a case for a more elevated product line if they manufacture it and give people a chance to see it up close.

A similar strategy is under way on a larger scale at the Lands' End temporary store at the long empty Fifth Avenue site (below) that has been home to a string of former Liz Claiborne-owned brands (Liz, Mexx, Juicy Couture) for the better part of two decades until that conglomerate broke apart a few years ago. Most of Juicy's glitz has been finally erased from the space except for the elaborate wrought-iron and brass railing on the staircase connecting the two levels. Stripped down to concrete floors, the store's makeshift ambiance is emphasized by unfinished wooden fixtures and installations (pictured above) which is the perfect backdrop for. . . more cashmere!
Eager to shed the association with its former parent company Sears, Lands' End is also looking to upgrade its fashion image along with its customer base, and what better way to do that than with the multi-ply cashmere poncho that greets customers as they enter the store or maybe a surprisingly trendy navy and white sailor stripe crewneck? With some high profile new execs with tonier backgrounds, the company has hinted that it may stick around at its current Fifth Avenue home permanently. At the moment, it is offering a highly curated array of classic items from its vast inventory in addition to the cashmeres. Chief in the offerings is outerwear, a Lands' End staple. The menswear in particular is showing the touch of its new creative director with more colorful jackets and classic heavy flannel shirts in in updated prints. There are plenty of Holiday gift items, of course, but, more importantly, Lands' End has a whole bar and lounge serving hot chocolate along with its own chocolate mint and salted caramel cookies. After all it will be important to keep your energy up during the upcoming shopping season.

Nautica Pop-Up Shop 134 Fifth Avenue between 18th & 19th Streets, Flatiron District
Lands' End Holiday Pop-Up Shop 650 Fifth Avenue at 52nd Street, Midtown

URBAN JUNGLE: You'll Get The Hard Sell At The HIKE NIKE Pop-Up On The Bowery

It's a constant struggle in stores to find the correct balance between being welcoming to customers and smothering them with attention, information and "experience". At this month's HIKE NIKE pop-up on the Bowery, we aren't sure thatchy are even bothering to try.
A typical complaint in New York City stores is that people either can't find sale help or are treated dismissively by the ones who are available. Not so at Hike Nike. The moment The Shophound walked into the temporary store a couple of days ago, we were descended upon by a genial Nike representative who proceeded to give us a lengthy spiel about the store and its various attributes, which while informative was also slightly oppressive. Let us breathe Nike people. It's not that the store doesn't need a bit of explanation. The front room serves as a mini-museum of sorts featuring the evolution of classic Nike styles such as the iconic Cortez into the more rugged ACG styles that fuse sneakers with hiking boots. If that designation sounds familiar, you may remember the ACG sub-brand from the '90s when it was created for the brand's trail running and hiking styles. Now, ACG is being relaunched more for style under the Nike Lab division, aimed at the city dwellers who probably accounted for much of the brand's success the first time around when they snapped up now classic styles like the Lava Dome and the Terra Humara. The store has even organized a series of "city hikes" over the course of the month to re-acquaint New Yorkers with the concept. Upstairs, there is a preview display of the sleek new ACG capsule collection launching on December 2, and in the back room visitors can try on ACG items to purchase or pre-order —and you will get a lot of help. In fact, we couldn't even enter the back area without making sure we were registered with Nike.com. Once past the gate, the new Nike Lab Sneaker-boots on display looked great, mixing classic Nike looks and flyknit styles with heftier, more rugged soles in serious shades of black and army green. Getting the fashion right has never been Nike's problem, but a lighter touch on the service might do a bit better on selling the Hike Nike concept.

Hike Nike NYC 135 Bowery between Broome & Grand Streets, Lower East Side
Have a look inside of the store after the jump