The venerable English clothier pops up in New York
Because no one wears ties in Hollywood or Silicon Valley, right?
The team at Drake’s examined their ecommerce analytics and discovered something not surprising: most of its online order from the US came from New York City. After all, no one wears ties in Hollywood or Silicon Valley, right?
Well there’s more to Drake’s than just ties, and that’s neat and tidily on display at its first-ever US retail store, a cozy shop on trendy Prince Street in SoHo. Even those who consider neckwear a noose can find something in the collection, which includes lightly constructed tweed sportcoats made by Belvest, shirts made in Drake’s very own English factory, and, coming soon — denim.
Drake’s began retailing five years ago with a store on London’s Clifford Street. The New York spot, which opened at the tail end of August, is leased through January. “Given the wholesale business we’ve had in a New York with the likes of Barney’s and Bergdorf’s,” says creative director Michael Hill, “we felt it was the right opportunity and it’s great to finally have the chance to test our hunch.”
The next step in Drake’s retail expansion is a shop-with-a-shop scheduled to open in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district in May 2017.
The retail expansion echoes the expanding collection, which began with neckties, scarves and pocket squares. “As we added to our core furnishings offer,” says Hill, “it became important to showcase the offer with a broader Drake’s experience. We’re very conscious of not bolting on product for the sake of it — if we do something we want to really do it properly. There’s jeans coming later this season, and for next summer a line of swimwear inspired by our printing heritage.”
Drake’s Fall/Winter 2016 lookbook features designer and writer Jason Jules along with model Eshan Kali. Check it out, and place online orders from anywhere in the US, at drakes.com.
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