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.”

“Cire” Candle by Cire Trudon

Design, Retail

It’s always a special occasion when Cire Trudon, the venerable French candle-maker, launching a new scented candle. This time the scent is tied to the theme of 2019’s Earth Day: Protect Our Species. Trudon’s candles are made by traditional methods from traditional materials – that is beeswax. Bees have been at the heart of Trudon’s manufacture for centuries, and some bee species are going extinct. For this project Trudon teamed up with the Perche regional Nature Park in Normandy, where the company operates. 4% from sales of this candle will go to protecting the dark bees indigenous to the region. The candle will debut in the US in early May.

TakahiroMiyashitaTheSoloist Opens a Pop-Up Store in New York

Fashion, Retail

Takahiro Miyashita of the Japanese menswear brand TheSoloist has always had affinity for New York. The only outpost for his first label, Number (N)ine, outside of Japan was here in TriBeCa. Much of it has to do with Al Albayan, who has been Miyashita’s right hand since the early N(N) days. Together, they have cooked up something for New York once again. RE:AL is TheSoloist is a pop-up shop, again in TriBeCa that opened last weekend and will run through July. The idea was to open a version of an airport gift shop. Miyashita is fond of traveling and not fond of diffusion lines, so doing something quite different but still familiar seemed like a fitting idea.

Love and Death: Cold Cave x Blackbird

Retail

In a time when we are inundated with seemingly endless collaborations, it takes us by surprise when we are able to announce something worthwhile.

Wesley Eisold, the founder of the band Cold Cave, and the Seattle-based store-turned-perfumer Blackbird have worked together to release two new incense scents, “LOVE” and “DEATH,” to coincide with the anniversary shows for Cold Cave releases, Love Comes Close and Death Comes Close, taking place befittingly on February 14th (Valentine’s Day) and February 15th (Wesley Eisold’s birthday). The sold out concerts will take place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.