Undercover x Mad et Len

Retail

We would like to present to you a new collaboration between Undercover and the scent-maker Mad et Len. As you probably know we hold both in high regard, so we are particularly giddy about this one. This type of a collab is after our own hearts, done between people who hold each other in high regard and who decided to take advantage of each other’s talents and push the boundaries of their respective creative senses.

The vibe of this home fragrance capsule is minimal – it consists of three essential products, the candle, the potpourri, and the room spray. You can see the product descriptions below. The distribution on this is quite limited – for now you can only buy them at the Undercover flagship in Aoyama in Tokyo, and soon at the Mad et Len boutique in Paris. But we will update you once the stuff hits stateside, including our own e-commerce store.

Op-Ed: How Barneys Lost Its Cool

Fashion, Features/Op-Ed, Retail

Back in 2014, in an Op-Ed for the Business of Fashion, I rang the alarm about fashion stores losing their edge as tastemakers. I was mainly looking at Barneys, the iconic New York department store, as one that was losing its cache with the fashion-forward customer by becoming too commoditized. Fast-forward to 2019 and Barneys is now exploring bankruptcy. Theories abound as to what went wrong with the store, and there is not one single reason for Barneys possible demise – there is the crazy rent hike on its flagship, increased competition online, changing consumer tastes. But out of all commentators Lauren Sherman, of BoF nailed a big one, “Instead of owning cool, Barneys began chasing it.”