Retail Happenings

The newly spruced up Cole Haan on Madison Avenue will open this Friday, and our love for interior design and quality leather goods has us more than excited. The new space is said to have been inspired by the modernist California home of the 'Cole Haan couple'. In the store, warm, natural materials will compliment the rawness of the open-space. Cole Haan's signature aesthetic clues, woven materials and orange accents, will be touched on in the store's interior lighting and textures. Overall, the new space will be streamlined and sleek--in anticipation of yet another decade of business, and soon enough, their 100th year. 

This evening Coutorture is hosting an exclusive MINT Jodi Arnold sample sale complete with cocktails, music, and heavily discounted art-inspired clothing. We've extended the invitation to our New York Network Partners and thought to pass the info on to our NY readers as well! A while back we posted on the amazing, mouth-watering deals at MINT Jodi Arnold this season and, thanks to our shout out, we've teamed up with the ladies at MINT Jodi Arnold to plan a shopping event. Between the zippered leather dress, ruched sleeve blouse, and cocoon coat, we're not sure how we're going to control ourselves. If you're in New York stop on by and stock up on family-appropriate, New York-approved outfits. The sale runs tonight from six to eight, RSVP to dhartzog@jodiarnoldnyc.com for details! Until then!

Last Friday we popped over to the new Billy Reid shop on Bond Street to check out their Spring 09 offerings and brand new Fall-stocked store. An interesting thing is happening to that pocket of downtown New York as menswear shops are opening every time we turn around. A few years back Nolita became the go-to destination for gentlemanly attire and now, just across Houston, the likes of Rogan, John Varvatos, and now Billy Reid are expanding on that draw. The Billy Reid shop, which shares the old Bowery Theatre space with Rogan (who opened up this summer), is as nostalgic and country-themed as the hotels (The Bowery Hotel) and restaurants (Freeman's) it shares the neighborhood with. The catch, in this case, is that Bill Reid himself is actually a red-blooded Southerner. Suddenly the rustic atmosphere appeared to us as more dynamic once we realized that it was, gasp, authentic.

In case you don't remember, Louisianna native, Reid, won the CFDA Perry Ellis award for menswear in 2001. His first New York store marks his fourth brick and mortar opening, and boasts the full mens and women's wear collections in stock. Check out our gallery of the new space below, and, if you're not in New York, be sure to shop Billy Reid online. A Southern gentleman gone e-commerce? Call us smitten. 

Rumors have circulated that Anna Wintour is leaving her position at Vogue and who better to capitalize on the whispers than the lowly online press (we kid). It started with Page Six and moved through Refinery 29, Gawker, Racked, and The Cut in a matter of minutes. 

Miu Miu opens their third store in Manhattan today, which should stand as a sign that the brand is still thriving. The company has three more United States stores in the pipeline in addition to openings abroad. To see the Spring 2009 Miu Miu collection, click here. 

In other news...Monocle magazine has opened a shop in Londontown where the Man About Town and Fantastic Man can bring their business. Rachel Nasvik declares her disdain for over-embellished bags...wonder what she would think of our modest 100 bag round up? The NY Times pays a visit to the Madison Avenue Oscar de la Renta boutique and falls for the romance hook, line, and sinker.

Paul Birardi and Eddy Chai (brother to designer Richard Chai) are on a roll--before we even had the chance to check out their newest shop opening, the pair launched an e-commerce site and threw one of the most designer-clad parties to occur this season. Well, just to backtrack a bit, late last week we popped over to their new shop Pas de Deux, dedicated (finally, finally, finally) to just women. To explain our enthusiasm one must understand the Odin-culture in New York. Odin is, has been for some time, the store where girls who know how to dress take their boyfriends, fiances, husbands, so that they too, can dress. The go-to destination for every fashion forward scenester and no-nonsense guy's guy, Odin has long been a downtown retail landmark for all walks of male fashionista. So, when they opened the doors to their small but beautiful women's shop we were more than curious what lay, ahem, in store.

To put it simply the selection is well edited without being untrue to the designer's and their collections. This isn't the kind of place, in other words, where you'll find a blouse from one designer squashed next to a pair of trousers from another. However comprehensive are their buys, and small the space, there is still a nice mix of recognizable names and lesser known brands and a distinct nod to a woman's boyish sensibilities--no doubt inspired by Odin. Pas de Deux is a place for the girlfriends, fiances, wives to finally shop for themselves and that, in the end, is all we could ever hope for. 

Odin's e-commerce site will soon include women's items and we'll be sure to report on that when the time comes, until then, if in New York, check out Pas de Deux for Repetto, Karen Walker, Loeffler Randall, Clu, Phillip Crangi, Boyy and much, much more.