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Outside of this season’s shows and presentations at New York Fashion Week, brands are capitalising on the buzz with a much more immediate offering: fresh new stores or buzzy pop-ups, with racks of goods ready for purchase.
Axel Arigato is opening its first US store this month and will host a celebratory dinner on Thursday evening, the day after NYFW comes to a close. On Tuesday, Boucheron celebrates the opening of its New York outpost (the first of several planned for the US) in the city. Nili Lotan’s new Tribeca menswear store opened on 6 September. Influencer-favourite Danielle Guizio opened its first physical store on 9 September. Jacquemus opened an in-store boutique at Nordstrom’s West 57th spot, kicking fashion week off with a cocktail evening last Wednesday. Uniqlo’s little sibling GU is opening its flagship in Manhattan following a successful summer pop-up. And Luisaviaroma opened its first US store in New York in July, but held its opening cocktail event on 4 September.
Brands are also dropping in for the week. Zegna is hosting its second edition of experiential retail concept Villa Zegna. Cecilie Bahnsen is hosting its first New York pop-up. Leset is opening a retail storefront, a prelude to its first permanent storefront due to follow in 2025. Aussie brand Nagnata is taking over the Lower East Side’s Sommwhere space for two weeks. And, for a brief period, Barneys is back with a pop-up hosted by Hourglass Cosmetics.
Designers have long looked at NYFW to break into the US market. Zimmermann did it back in 2013; Dion Lee followed suit in 2014 (after breaking into Europe via London Fashion Week). But putting on a show is also a major feat — and not suited to every brand hoping to crack the States. So timing an opening to NYFW enables designers to make the most of the crowds of editors, buyers and fashion fans, with a lighter lift.
This is the thinking behind Axel Arigato’s opening. “Historically, we are a brand that intentionally chooses not to show up at fashion week via conventional means. Traditional runways and presentations aren’t a fit for how we present ourselves,” says CEO Albin Johansson. But the brand recognises the value of this moment. “Our community is made up of a broad spectrum of creative sectors — music, art, fashion, design and architecture, to name a few — and this international crowd is currently gathering in New York.”
Lots of activity also means fighting for attention, though, says Jessica Quillin, luxury strategist and co-founder of brand strategy agency It’s A Working Title. “NYFW is a buzzy time, which can be a good time to catch consumer and media attention with the right concept,” Quillin says. But, she cautions, fashion month is also a frenzy, “meaning store launches can easily get lost in other news, openings and trendy happenings”.
Who is it for?
Some brands are hoping to catch the throes of editors and buyers in town for fashion week.
For the Danielle Guizio SoHo opening, Guizio wants to meet the brand’s crowd where they are. Both her industry friends and the brand’s stockists will be in town, she says: “All of my friends from LA will be here, and so will a lot of our clients for market.” It’s also designed to tap the influencer crowd that’s in town, many of whom are part of Guizio’s clan. “We’re having an afterparty, so the girls can come to the store and get dressed. It’s almost like a full-service stop-by situation,” she says. Beyond fashion week, New York was always Guizio’s choice for her first store because it’s the brand’s biggest market.
“Having a localisation strategy to lure foot traffic into store openings within the time frame of NYFW is critical,” Quillin says. “But this strategy needs to be part of a wider curation plan to build audience interest for people who cannot attend but want to be in the know for what’s happening.” For instance: ensure the opening event gets lots of social media traction, so that local consumers not in attendance will want to go and check it out in person.
Other brands are more focused on local New Yorkers from the outset; those who probably aren’t going to the shows, but for whom fashion week adds a buzzy backdrop. Eponymous designer Nili Lotan says the fashion week timing was happenstance, but notes that everyone has “flooded the city after summer travel and the cultural energy is high”. Lotan says she has lots of loyal brand fans in the downtown New York community. “The [opening] event is designed as a celebration for them.”
For Cecilie Bahnsen, it’s not about the fashion crowd at all — her goal is to tap “regular” direct-to-consumer shoppers, she says. “Of course, it’s amazing that we will have friends in town to stop by and visit us, but we really wanted to cater this pop-up to our local customers,” she explains.
Even those who are prioritising industry professionals for fashion week need to be thinking beyond them, Quillin flags, because they’re not going to be the ones making the majority of purchases. “It is about curating the live experience for IRL attendees and informing and inspiring people who aren’t invited and getting them to care about what the brand is doing,” she says.
This is the approach Axel Arigato is taking. The pull of NYFW is that there’s “a very important cross section of industry and consumer”, Johansson says. To this end, the Scandi brand is hosting a series of events, which don’t stop at the one dinner. Throughout September, the brand will host in-store activations including DJs, live performances, workshops and city-wide giveaways. “We want to make sure we aren’t focusing on just one event in the cultural calendar,” Johansson says.
The fashion week bump
To attract fashion week’s busy attendees, brands are zeroing in on their USPs. Whether it’s a limited-edition collab only available in-store, or added experiential perks, brands are getting creative to bring industry insiders — and consumers — through the door.
“Brands need to give them a unique reason to come into store — and a reason to remember the experience in a positive way,” Quillin says. She highlights Boucheron’s just-opened New York flagship. On 10 September, the French brand will host a cocktail party to celebrate, honouring its storied history with New York, titled ‘Boucheron in America: From Paris to New York, A Cutting Edge Journey Since 1858’.
Guizio is launching a limited-edition sneaker with Puma, exclusively available at her New York store, and is hosting a pop-up activation for viral beauty brand Laneige (which is also supplying gift bags for the opening). “I wanted to choose brands that I know the girlies really love and ride for,” Guizio says. “That’s another element that is really going to draw people in.”
Bahnsen is taking a more pared-back approach: the draw is, simply, the clothes. “We feel the demand from our customers to see, touch and feel the styles in person. To try them on, understand how each piece fits in with their existing wardrobe and get styling input from our skilled team,” she says. “For these customers, it may be their first time seeing the full collection in person, which is really exciting — it gives them a sense of the complete universe.” That said, for an extra pull, the pop-up will also boast exclusive pieces, including made-to-order, archive and bridal.
These USPs are key to locking in return consumers, which is what it’s all about, Quillin says. “Attracting US luxury consumers into a new retail store is not hard in the first instance because of the newness factor. But encouraging them to come back and inspiring them to purchase is entirely another.”
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