May '06
We pay attention to retail


His last runway was literally on fire, but Hedi Slimane's Dior Homme stores remain oases of cool. Take, for example, the new boutique in Los Angeles (Beverly Hills, to be exact), where the full range of men's ready-to-wear, footwear, watches and accessories, plus Slimane's signature scents, can be admired on pristine white shelves jutting out from black lacquered walls. Slickest of all, Slimane has, in keeping with the label's other boutiques worldwide, invited Daniel Arsham to collaborate on the interior. The Ohio-born artist created craggy white structures that emerge from the corner of the fitting rooms like mini-glaciers. Feel the chill. Dior Homme, 315 North Rodeo Drive, 310-247-8003. —Stephen Morriss

What started a few years ago as a simple collaboration between a sports giant and an iconic Japanese fashion label has grown into a massive perma-line that incorporates not only men's and women's threads, but also shoes, bags, denim, keychains and everything else under the rising sun. We're talking, of course, about Y-3, the brand that marries the athletic heritage of Adidas with Yohji Yamamoto's catwalk prowess. Capitalizing on its mass appeal, Y-3 has begun rolling out stand-alone boutiques in Taipei, Atlanta and, most recently, Tokyo, which Yamamoto calls home. Lining the three floors of the 900-square-foot space at 50-3-20 Minami-Aoyama—near the designer's signature shop—are walls of mirrors, its key feature, playing up the idea of reflection and unity. Look for similar outlets to hit New York, where Y-3 has shown for the past few seasons, as well as Los Angeles, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Berlin and other European spots. It's a Y-3 world. -SM
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
 

In other Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto news, the two mavericks have teamed up to create Tunit YY, a mini-collection of men's soccer shoes timed to launch in conjunction with the World Cup in June. The four styles—each $675, limited to 1000 pairs and available in July, but already sparking wait lists—include the Tiger (above right), Eagle, Wolf and Dragon. For a glimpse, stroll over to the Yohji Yamamoto boutique at 103 Grand Street...Nike also celebrates the World Cup with its Woven Air Footscape sneakers, on sale May 27 exclusively at Dover Street Market in London. An exhibition of soccer-themed graphics by artists Stash, Misha, Danijel Zezelj, Delta, Mr. Cartoon and Nuno Valerio is also currently on view there...Comme des Gar�ons has chosen an old garage in Glasgow, Scotland, as the location for its latest guerrilla pop-up store, located at 104 Eastvale Place, Studio Warehouse, G3 8QG, +44 141 3577 245. The massive, 45,000 square foot space offers an array of old and new CDG clothing, perfumes and accessories, as well as exclusive pieces made only for Glasgow...Stockholm is heating up, partly because of global warming, but mostly because of Beneath. In addition to carrying hot indie labels, the store will soon exhibit the wacky work of Kathrine de Place Bjorn (above left). The Danish designer-artist, who's created textile prints for Bernhard Willhelm and Henrik Vibskov, will show her portraits and clothing until June 17...If Williamsburg's endless array of cute, handmade fare makes you want to cut yourself, head over to Jumelle (148 Bedford Avenue, 718-388-9525), a new shop carrying trusted names from Eley Kishimoto and Alexandre Herchcovitch to Sonia Rykiel and APC...Linda Farrow Vintage has opened its Men's Sunglasses Gallery, stocking archival shades, as well as exclusive collabs with the likes of Tsubi, Bernhard Willhelm and Jonathan Saunders, at Harrods in London.

If you'll be in Capri this summer, you may recognize us by the oversize Bottega Veneta Cabat tote that will be our steady beach companion. Like other Bottega bags, our baby was painstakingly woven from strips of buttery leather by old wrinkly-faced men in Bottega's workshops in Northern Italy. But while Bottega's commitment to craftsmanship is decidedly unmodern, the brand also embraces our hurried, wired times with surprisingly efficient e-commerce on its website. There, you can get all the discreetly luxurious (logos are banned) bags, accessories and gifts for men and women that have made the label the fastest growing in the Gucci stable. To give you that pampered feeling you'd get at, say, Bottega's Avenue Montaigne store, the e-shop even features a personal shopper, whom you can contact by phone or email to be guided through the nerve-racking process of picking the right summer bag. But in case you get any ideas, we've already made sure we'll have the biggest, baddest Bottega on the entire Amalfi coast with the removal of our spectacular croc skin Cabat from the site. -Suleman Anaya
With Sienna Miller starring as Edie Sedgwick in the upcoming film Factory Girl, Andy Warhol and his coterie of artists, actors, models and hangers-on are once again set to become style icons. Leading the way is Levi's, another quintessential American icon. Its new Warhol Factory X Levi's range for men and women features a few of the pop artist's more memorable images (Marilyn Monroe, dollar signs) and quotes ("Fashion wasn't what you wore someplace anymore; it was the whole reason for going") on mostly jeans, but also jackets, miniskirts, T-shirts, cashmere sweaters and leathers ($190-$250 for jeans, $80-$300 for shirts). Warhol, a fan of both mass production and classic 501s, would be so proud. At Barneys New York, Fred Segal in Los Angeles and select Levi's stores. -SM

Longchamp, the recently reinvented French accessories brand owned by the eccentric Cassegrain clan (who also helped Kate Moss return to grace as the face of their spring campaign) has a new New York home with the opening of its long-awaited flagship in SoHo. The dominant feature of the La Maison Unique Longchamp (132 Spring Street, 212-343-7444)—which also serves as the luxury label's U.S. showroom and headquarters—is "the landscape," a wavy staircase of steel ribbon strips directing street-level shoppers into the large retail space above. There, the full range of impossibly supple bags, luggage and other leather goods can be groped, including three bags from Jeremy Scott, following artist Tracy Emin's contribution last year. But the collaborations don't end there. Having enlisted graffiti artist Astre 74 to work on its fall '05 collection, Longchamp is reportedly in talks with Paul White, the British graphic designer behind Me Company.

Not even the creative powerhouse of Prada is too holy to dabble in collaborations, especially not when the result looks this good. For the latest in its ongoing T-shirt series, Unspoken Dialogue—in which innovators in art and culture are invited to reinterpret the brand—Prada asked French artist HNT (aka Honet) to bring his unique brand of na�ve, children-inspired graffiti to a variety of tees in commemoration of this year's World Cup. He did so by depicting the Little Prince, his country's most endearing and recognized children's character, engrossed in the game. At $285 each, the shirts are sold at Prada boutiques and department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. Rounding out the Unspoken Dialogue collaborations for spring are graphic artists Christian Hundertmark, C100, Vinnie Ray and Adam Neate. -Lisa Weatherby



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