The New York Fashion Week runway has been open for a few days, and flocks of well-dressed fashion folk have descended upon the Big Apple for a week of fashionable festivities and substantial commercial decisions. Sadly, I haven’t had the opportunity to cross the Atlantic to join Anna Wintour and the Beckhams on the front row, to admire the creme de la creame of American design. However, if you find some time between shows, or if you’re planning a trip to NYC sometime soon, here are a few menswear shopping gems that I discovered whilst out there earlier this year.
FREEMANS
You know when fashion labels call themselves a lifestyle brand, but really they produce clothes and the occasional book and that’s about it? Well, Freemans is a true lifestyle brand, no word of a lie. There is Freemans restaurant, which I told you about when I first came back from NYC and raved about how delicious the food was (artichoke dip and devils on horseback are a MUST here), and then there is Freemans Sporting Club which is their menswear brand, and is all about making local, and buying local. And finally, there is the six year old Freemans barber shop on Rivington Street, where you can add the final hipster notch do your Freemans score card – do you get a much cooler trio than that? Now, that is a lifestyle brand.
Head down to Rivington or Bleeker and enjoy a perooze.
Odin
Odin is a menswear dream to behold. I applaud their visual merchandising team, because wandering through Odin’s SoHo flagship you can’t help but gawp at the layout of this lovely menswear haunt. They stock the likes of Common Projects, Comme des Garcons, Todd Snyder, 3.1 Philip Lim (I literally had to tear myself away from a pair of their single pleat, tapered trousers) and Public School, as well as their own brand. It’s a fantastically curated collection of well-crafted menswear staples from traditionally tailored pieces to bolder patterned shirts – I could have bought every item in there.
Head down to the East Village and West Village to check out their other stores too.
Rag & Bone
Rag & Bone popped up on Sloane Square not so long ago, but other than that I hadn’t paid all that much attention to the brand, until I arrived in New York and every item I loved seemed to be made by them. All clean, cool and comfortable, their designs are a monochrome palette of wearable, British heritage meets New York edge. From their denim collection, to an impressive choice of bomber jackets for AW13 (check out the Jenner Jacket), you need to stop by this store, and whilst there swing by the women’s aisles too – equally dreamy.
