The Shophound

Future Additions: Generra To Step Into Village Gourmet's MePa Space

Anyone concerned that the former Village Gourmet space at 823 Washington Street would be sitting empty for long can rest assured that by Fall it will be filled and the Meatpacking District's shopping strip will continue unbroken. Generra will be opening a 1,200 square foot store, its first U.S. boutique, in the space conveniently located near the entrance to the new High Line Park. This means that, unfortunately, the neighborhood will be short one deli, but you will be able to pick up a jaunty, Autumn outfit to wear while strolling the former elevated rails. It's a trade off, but you probably didn't need that snack anyway.
In other Generra news, while the label is still without a main creative director, today's WWD reports that Obedient Sons founder Swaim Hutson will collaborate with the brand for the Spring 2010 collection –good news for fans of that recently defunct label.
Generra Plans First U.S. Store (WWD)

Cintra Wilson Goes Shopping:Stealth Wealth Edition

Normally, The Shophound likes to get this feature up a bit earlier, but we had to read the beginning of Cintra Wilson's Critical Shopper column a couple of times to figure out what she was talking about. It's epic and dramatic and somehow involves "Rosemary's Baby" and Barneys.
We'll read it again and get back to you.
Anyway, the upshot here is that La Cintra seems to be about as enchanted with the new Meatpacking District boutique Zadig & Voltaire as we were...which is not very.
She is particularly nonplussed by the the stores main conceit of rendering prosaic sportswear items in high maintenance luxury fabrics.

Such are the perils of stealth-wealth. Kleenex-thin cashmere and pre-aged “street clothes” are extremely sensitive to ungentle treatment; they’re basically more fragile than Nancy Reagan and require truly capable servants.
“Hand wash: do not wringe to remove water. Place it first in a sponge towel and then dry flat. Soft cool ironing on inside out garment. Avoid low cost dry cleaning services that would not guarantee optimum results.”
Portrait of the ARTIST, frantically relaxed, placing her HIPPIE dress inside a rare sponge-towel and beating her maid over her inability to find the “soft cool” setting on the iron.

The caps-lock up there refers to the titles printed on the delicate t-shirts the store sells. We can pretty well guess at this point that having fulfilled her professional duties, she is not likely to be tempted to visit Zadig & Voltaire again. We can relate.
Critical Shopper | Zadig & Voltaire: Is There a Setting for High Strung? by Cintra Wilson (NYTimes)
Zadig & Voltaire 831 Washington Street (between Little West 12^th and Gansevoort Streets, Meatpacking District
Previously: The Eurocasual: Zadig & Voltaire Hit The Meatpcking District

Pop-Up Report: Ryantown At Earnest Sewn

British artist Rob Ryan has taken over the back room pop-up space at Earnest Sewn with a vast array of his signature stenciled artworks and textiles. Ryantown will be up through the end of May. Venture towards the far side of the rustic denim dealer, and you'll find a profusion of items ranging from the inevitable printed t-shirts to greeting cards, tote bags, painted tiles, pillows dishes and all sorts of other baubles and novelties. All are touched with what looks like vintage folk art patterns which, upon closer inspection, reveal poetic musings and inventive designs. It's one of the more charming pop-ups that Earnest Sewn has hosted, and definitely worth a visit for anyone in search of Mother's Day gifts.
Ryantown at Earnest Sewn through May 31^st, 821 Washington Street between Gansevoort & Little West 12^th Streets, Meatpacking District
Rob Ryan (Official Blog)

The Eurocasual: Zadig & Voltaire Hit The Meatpcking District

We weren't really sure what to expect from Zadig & Voltaire, the French sportswear chain that opened it's second U.S. store on Washington Street a few weeks ago. Their website shows only a smattering of product, and has prices in Euros. So far as we can tell, this store represents the globalization of fashion in the sense that, on our way through the shop, we kept having the feeling that we had seen everything before somewhere else.
The company has one other American store in West Hollywood, which makes sense, because the basic look here is a vaguely refined version of California casual jeans, t-shirts and leather jackets, or is that just global casual now?
The brand was started in 1997 by Thierry Gillier, a French knitwear expert, whose father was a co-founder of Lacoste. To its credit, the shop's biggest draw is fine, lightweight, meticulously detailed sweaters and t-shirts. There are beautiful cashmere intarsia knits for men and women, though many of the coordinating jackets and dresses made us think of Stella McCartney (except with real leather). We thought it was nice that they carried some soft Sissi Rossi handbags, except that a closer look revealed the store's own label inside, even though the price was around the same as the original. We saw pendants and earrings made from little silver feathers in the jewelry case —shades of Jade Jagger. As for the men's line tucked in the back room, as nice as the sweaters are, we can't get too impressed by washed cargo pants, especially for around $200. In the mix is also the inevitably overpriced children's miniature versions of the grownup collections... Zzz.
Call us jaded and underwhelmed, or maybe just cranky, but we expected something more exciting from an evocatively named store coming all the way from France. On the one hand, it will probably do OK with the Helmut Lang, Theory and Scoop customers in the Meatpacking District. The staff seemed friendly and professional. On the other hand, can a new store still thrive selling such familiar merchandise these days?
Does anyone need reminding that it ain't 2006 anymore?
Zadig & Voltaire 831 Washington Street between Little West 12th and Gansevoort Streets, Meatpacking District

Cintra Wilson Goes Shopping: Almost Dressing Like A Janitor Edition

In today's Critical Shopper column, Cintra Wilson essentially deconstructs the entire concept of "luxury basics" as she simultaneously praises and skewers the new Vince store in the Meatpacking District. La Cintra falls head over heels for a $325 jumpsuit that sadly lets her down in the dressing room with too much luxury and not enough basic.

Once on my body, the jumpsuit and I began to argue. I didn’t want it to pre-roll the sleeves and legs for me; I wanted to roll them with my own elbow grease. I wanted thicker denim that might endure actual labor. I wanted this blue-collar factory uniform to be less preening and wussed out, and I wanted it to be well under $325. The affair ended abruptly.

Here at The Shophound, we love a luxury basic. We live in them. I fact we just bought an armful of our treasured Adam Lippes' silky Peruvian cotton T-shirts (Oprah's favorites!). Of course we bought them for $5 each at the sample sale*, and they are last year's color —or older— but nobody needs to know that (uh...except we just told you). That's just New York for you. Occasionally, the staggering cost of living gets balanced out by a delightful bargain like $196 worth of t-shirts for $25.
But back to Cintra. Somehow, we can't reconcile the glamourpuss image of her we have in our mind with a garment we normally associate with the people carrying large garbage pails who run after elephants in the circus, making sure they don't poop on the floor. Looks like she couldn't either, at least not for that price, and yet we both like the friendly, if a bit effusive, folks who run the Vince store. And neither of us are quite prepared to predict the death of brands like Vince which seem to offer fancier versions of the same things as the Gap, even if we have found excellent alternatives. Despite the retail apocalypse that appears to be going on, that aspirational moment may not have actually passed just yet.
Critical Shopper | Vince: Rosie the Riveter in a Pocket T by Cintra Wilson (NYTimes)
833 Washington Street at Little West 12^th Street, Meatpacking District
Previously: Meatpacking Additions: Vince Is Waiting For You

*Through Sunday, 3/15 at the Chelsea Market 75 Ninth Ave between 15th and 16th Streets. Only a tiny bit of men's, but racks and racks of women's stuff including a ton of basic tees all at excellent prices.

Long Awaited Openings:Ports 1961 Finally Launches

There are so many store openings during Fashion Week that it will take a bit of time for us to cover them all, but we did put Ports 1961's new Meatpacking District boutique on the top of our list. After all, we have been expecting this shop to open for almost a year. Apparently, merging the newly built section of the boutique with the older building on the corner took a bit more time than anyone expected, but the shop is now finished and open for business at the windy convergence of Ninth Avenue, Gansevoort and Little West 12th Streets.
The airy, skylit space is now featuring the Spring collection designed by Tia Cibani, who has moved the Ports brand from a classic sportswear label to a much more adventurous fashion house with a growing editorial and retail following. On the shelves inside, we even found some of the fantasy hats by Karen Henriksen from the Spring runway show (pictured below), for anyone in search of a woven straw spiral to perch atop one's head. Chapeaux aside, Ports is now a slightly less expensive alternative to the Pradas and Jil Sanders of the world with plenty of sophistication. Currently, the interior is graced with sculptures from the Berlin Artist Mathias Hornung, and, even more importantly, when we visited, there was a big bowl of candies from La Maison du Chocolat in the center of the store, which were delicious with the champagne we were offered.
Could you possibly need any more encouragement to visit?
Go, before the chocolate is gone.
Ports 1961 3 Ninth Avenue at Gansevoort Street, Meatpacking District
 

Fall '09 Fashion Week Day 0:Jillian Lewis Forgoes The 'Runway'

Today is the first day of the Barney's Warehouse Sale, so normally we might be slogging through that mess to give you a report, but we are frankly relieved to be busy with Fashion Week stuff instead. Technically, it doesn't start until tomorrow, but the Thursday before the Tents open has become a time for smaller designers to catch the fashion flock before the hardcore schedule crunch goes into effect on Friday. This worked out well for Project Runway Season 4 fan favorite JILLIAN LEWIS who unveiled a presentation in the Meatpacking District this afternoon.
Much has been written about how designers are scaling back their shows to similar exhibitions, but for a young designer like Lewis it is often a better way to show off her work than the runway. It gives the opportunity to look closely and get to know her style better, and her clothes look much better in this light than they did on Project Runway. In fact, this presentation really raised our opinion of Lewis's skills, particularly the beautifully engineered knits and her sense of embellishment, which has been refined quite a bit since her reality show days.
Also, passing trays of mini-brownies never hurts. Perhaps the best part of this type of show is that rather than waiting in a line like cattle to check in and squeeze into a venue, we had a couple of hours to visit at our convenience and could fully take in the presentation within a few minutes. Also, we can get the models to pose just for us.
Once again, the recession may be doing us a favor.
JILLIAN LEWIS: THE RUNDOWN
1-3 PM Tela Salon, Little West 12th Streeet.
MODELS:
A nicely diverse cast. We haven't begun working the numbers yet, but no complaints.
CELEBRITIES:
The drawback of the presentation is that if there are celebrity guests, there's no way to make sure you will be there at the same time. We are betting some Project Runway alumni stopped by, but we missed them.
SWAG:
The first gift bag of the season passed muster even for a young designer.
9 oz. bottle of Philip Pelusi Refresh Hair spray
3 samples of Tela Beauty Organics hair products
.5 oz bottle Dashing Diva Nail Polish
Discount card for Sew Fast Sew Easy sewing store

Gallery after the jump

Through The Doorway:A Peek At Matthew Williamson

Matthew Williamson's new boutique is slated to open any minute now, and they are plugging away in there to be ready for Fashion Week's scrutiny.
We always enjoy a door carelessly left open during construction, and from the looks of things inside, we can expect a dramatic, modern space with some vaguely psychedelic lighting effects.
Groovy.
That will go well with Williamson's colorful embellishment signatures. We can already see the requisite video screen showing the latest runway show, and if you peer towards the back, you can see the tropical garden we have been promised.
It all looks rather entertaining, and though we miss the Bodum store, hopefully this will be a satisfactory replacement. We should all be able to get a better look sometime in the next week or so.
Matthew Williamson 413 West 14^th Street between Ninth and 10^th Avenues

Meatpacking Additions:vince Is Waiting For You

We feel confident that we can guarantee you will find a warm welcome at Vince, the new home for the popular contemporary sportswear brand. We were effusively greeted when we visited this afternoon, but we are not surprised that customers might be a bit scarce on a frigid February afternoon. Naturally, the store is fully set up for Spring shopping, and the casual knits, tees and shorts for women and men look as appealing as ever in the stripped down industrial space with movable racks and bold wood accents. we probably won't be thinking much about shorts and tees for at least a few months, but when we do we will surely make a return visit. The enthusiasm even extends to shopping bags reading "I Just Met Vince" who, we are pretty sure, is not an actual person.
Vince joins Tory Burch next door, Paige Premium Denim, Diane Von Furstenberg and Earnest Sewn among others as prime Scoop resources that have set up shop a stone's throw from a major colony of the store's various permutations on Washington Street. Hopefully, this will encourage the boutique to update its offerings a bit.
As for Vince, it remains full of the sort of easy basics that shouldn't be too hard to sell. Any boutique will open these days with plenty of trepidation, but hopefully they are prepared to weather current challenges. they certainly aren't lacking in service at the moment, so of you are in the mood to have a charming salesperson fall all over herself for you, here is your store.
Vince 833 Washington Street at Little West 12^th Street, Meatpacking District

Today In Conversions:Scoop It Up ReappearsOn Washington Street

We have to give Scoop some credit for making good use of extra space.
Recently, after they opened their Mega-Scoop in SoHo, the previous, smaller store at Broadway and Spring Street was converted into Scoop It Up, a clearance store that god rid of all sorts of old stock at bargain prices (like some Dries Van Noten shirts we snagged, for example). When the lease (and the stock) ran out, Scoop It Up vanished. Now that the chain has decided to discontinue its luxury children's clothing division, Scoop It Up has returned in its place, this time to the strip of Scoops at the head of Washington Street in the Meatpacking District.
While much has been made of Scoop's current 75% off sale (Are they going out of business? No.) it's worth remembering that in February, anything left over from the Fall should always be 75% off. The new clearance shop has plenty of women's clothes and shoes and whatever is left of the children's stock but, unfortunately, no menswear. At this point, most clearance goods in Manhattan are pretty picked over, but at those prices it's always worth a look for that needle in the haystack; something fabulous in your size, reduced to practically nothing, that just happens to materialize when you show up in the store because your little sixth shopping sense told you to stop in.
We like to call it the February Surprise, or just a little pick-me-up to help get through the dreariest month of the year.
How long Scoop It Up will be there is anyone's guess, although it would seem pretty easy to merge it with Scoop Street next door, it may also house the chains expanded home furnishings collection (Scoop Home? It's a no brainer).
Scoop It Up 430 Washington Street at 14th Street, Meatpacking District