Bricks-and-mortar retail is having a moment. In the last month, Collina Strada and Telfar each opened their very first stores in New York City, while Kiko Kostadinov set up shop in Los Angeles. The Elder Statesman welcomed its second retail outpost across the street from the fashion set’s favourite spot to eat, Sant Ambroeus, and is planning to open another store in Aspen this December. These openings follow that of Batsheva and Denim Tears earlier this year. Independent designers who previously leaned on wholesale accounts and e-commerce to grow their businesses are investing in in-person shopping.
What’s behind the surge?
Having a store space, especially one with a covetable address, is a long-standing marker of both prestige and success within the fashion industry. In major cities like New York, where real estate comes at a high cost, there’s an even higher barrier to entry. There is the immense financial burden of opening bricks-and-mortar, but up against a failing wholesale model and luxury e-commerce’s struggle to stay afloat, what else is an emerging designer to do?
Since opening Essx NYC, a concept shop specialising in designer and emerging brands, in July 2023, co-founder Laura Baker has noticed an increased appetite for in-person shopping. “Post-pandemic, New Yorkers are ready for bricks-and-mortar again — to be able to go into a store and find that special piece,” she explains, noting the store’s use of “old-school” clienteling to retain customers. “We believe there’s confidence in bricks-and-mortar because we see that our shoppers want to spend on and invest in independent talents, as consumers.”
In-person shopping is all about discovery, whether that’s learning about a young designer by way of a well-merchandised rack or walking past a new storefront on the way to work. In our social media-driven world, discovery is also at our fingertips — even if it’s become increasingly difficult thanks to sponsored ads and the sameness of the algorithm. Fashion enthusiasts — the ones most likely to be investing in independent brands — are looking for a more meaningful retail experience as a result, one that verges on the experiential and breaks away from the dull, robotic anonymity of the e-commerce scroll. However inscrutable the future of fashion may be, this paves the way for singular retail experiences that are true aesthetic extensions of brands.
Building on a cult customer fan base
For Bulgarian designer Kiko Kostadinov, who also opened a concept store in Tokyo back in March, investing in retail is based on “a gut feeling”, and a desire to give the label’s loyal followers a physical space to interact with its designs. “We have a very strong core customer that is very excited about seasonal ideas,” Kostadinov says of the cult-like following, “and [the store] is a great place for them to learn more about each product’s story and development.”
This element of education is echoed by Telfar, which celebrated its 20th anniversary with the opening of an NYC flagship in November.
“Telfar is an intergenerational brand and a household name for millions. But when things get big they get broad,” founders Telfar Clemens and Babak Radboy said via email. “People become ‘customers’ and they don’t know the history of the brand. Without its connection to the brand DNA — which is extremely conceptual and forward — it’s just a viral bag and you’re left wondering why it doesn’t have a zipper or whatever. The store puts everything in context; in just the past few weeks, the clothes are selling at a completely surprising rate compared to online.”
A window into the brand universe
A store is a marketing tool and a means of brand-building that is endlessly customisable. Collina Strada’s shop at 52 Canal Street is filled with its signature florals, from the custom dressing room curtains to the hand-painted floors in the style of designer Hillary Taymour’s watercolour cargo pants; while a quirky, portal-like door welcomes shoppers into Kiko Kostadinov Los Angeles, with bright blue racks, grassy green floors and surreal installations by artist Ryan Trecartin. It’s as much about showcasing the garments as it is about reflecting the brand’s design ethos, and offering an invitation for “other creatives to participate in our world”, Kostadinov says.
Greg Chait, founder and CEO of The Elder Statesman, a contemporary luxury label known for its colourful cashmere, tapped artist Isaac Brest to work alongside himself and creative director Bailey Hunter in designing the interiors of their latest location at 101 Crosby Street. “We wanted it to feel like home. We wanted it to feel warm — to glow,” Chait says. “We didn’t want to distract from the clothes, but at the same time we wanted to make a statement.”
The shop is filled with natural light, and as you journey down the corridor, there’s a wood-panelled room with a bedroom set-up, showing off the brand’s homewares, including soft striped pillows, cushions and the cashmere blankets that have been the cornerstone of the business since 2007. To this day, everything at The Elder Statesman is done in-house — involving a team of artisans such as knitters, hand-dyers and embroiderers — operating out of their Los Angeles-based office-cum-factory. “We’re vertical. I’ve always been vertical, and [the store] completes the supply chain,” Chait says, adding that he hopes folks will come in and ask questions. “I really want that — talk to us, because we’re makers, so the floor is a direct connection to our factory.”
“Though it’s also just a space, too,” Chait adds. “As we progress, it’s space that we can actually ‘add to’ or ‘remove from’, so we wanted to keep things slightly modular.”
Clothes are meant to be tried on
It goes without saying that fashion is a tactile business and for a brand rooted in knitwear like The Elder Statesman, it’s imperative that customers can touch and feel the fabrics; that they can understand the quality they’re buying into at such a high price point (a pair of socks starts at $120).
Similarly, when a brand’s language is based upon unconventional silhouettes and versatility, like Kiko Kostadinov and Telfar, the in-store experience is essential for both first-time buyers and return customers. A women’s long sleeve that has three separate neckholes, for example, and is made to twist around the torso twice before being slipped over the arms, might require a sales associate’s assistance.
“Our product can be very rich in detailing, fabric development and cut. Really the only way to appreciate the product’s full potential and intent is in person,” Kostadinov says. Many of Telfar’s garments are genderless, which is a sizing category that’s notably difficult to market online. “We are a Black brand making conceptual unisex clothes. You have to try them on in person,” the designer says. “It was always the plan to make a store.”
A gathering place
It’s too early to tell whether investments of independent designers in bricks-and-mortar retail will pay off — after all, many stores are one unexpected rent hike away from being forced to shutter. But there’s something to be said for pushing forwards in new, exciting ways and diversifying sales methods.
For many of these new shoppable spaces, the word ‘store’ simply doesn’t do the next-level retail experience justice. Not unlike KidSuper’s immense ‘Dream Factory’, which opened earlier this year in Brooklyn, Telfar has built a New York headquarters at 408 Broadway from the ground up. It encompasses a physical retail shop, an in-house atelier and a public access television studio, which is not only the filming location for the brand’s Telfar TV, but also a place where customers can shoot their own content, broadcasting their fit pics onto the building’s facade. Its opening marks a major moment for the community.
“It’s a total representation of us,” Clemens said of the flagship. “It’s a cultural space.”
At the end of the day, it’s about much more than just shopping. “It’s really important that people can hop by, hang out and dream,” says Chait.
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