Store Opening: Michael Kors Collection & Lifestyle 900 N. Michigan Ave

New Face of Times Square To Wear MAC & Forever 21

New Additions to KPA!

Please join us in welcoming Jose Achi and Kate Ryan to our firm. Jose is a Senior Design Manager and Kate a Senior Architect. Both will be based out of our Los Angeles office and we look forward to them contributing immediately to our already talented team.

By X for Y -The Method behind the Madness of Co-Branding

From Yves St Laurent to Ralph Lauren, many fashion designers' personal names (and personalities) have become synonymous with the fashion houses they represent. Anything associated with them often becomes more coveted. These days a designer’s name is his/her most valuable asset and designers are lending their names and skills to mass-market retailers for exclusive and temporary collections. Cole Haan for Nike, Alice & Oliva for Payless, Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton, Anna Sui for Target, and Jimmy Choo for H&M are just some of the unexpected concepts as well as names that are not only gaining instant buzz, but are shunning convention and breaking down the usual rules of fashion. Co-branding allows elite fashion-houses to crossover a brand into new markets and attain instant credibility. These partnerships create affordable luxury. While the prices are thrifty, the apparel's designs remain on-trend and true to each label's aesthetic. The irony is that often these pieces are more exclusive than the designers primary collections and end-up on eBay auctioning off for exuberant prices (re: studded leather jacket from Alexander McQueen for Target) or they are sold out in a matter of minutes (re: fashionistas swarmed H&M's Manhattan flagship and gutted the store in under 30 minutes when Roberto Cavalli designed for H&M). Check out KPA designed Adidas for Stella McCartney designed kicks, Lesportsac for Stella McCartney luggage line, and Forever 21 for Fifi Lapin’s exclusive T-shirt collection.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow...

Food has an expiration date, films have limited engagements, and vacation hot spots have seasonal restrictions, but this year’s latest recession trend of pop-up stores seems to put retail in the same category of here today gone tomorrow. Pop-up stores are literally as the name suggests, temporary stores set up by retailers either in unconventional locations or in a vacant established retail space. Retailers are catering to this new concept off mass-clusivity and using impermanence as a marketing tool. These fleeting stores are used by retailers to introduce themselves into new markets where they have not yet established a real estate presence or to generate publicity for an already accepted brand through a new medium. A driving force behind this trend lies in increasing retail vacancies. For landlords, the temporary outposts offer much needed income when a space is languishing between leases. Opportunistic leasing in today's marketplace offers maximum return for a limited investment. Mainstream retailers such as Target, The Limited, Gucci and Brooks Brothers have been pioneering the pop-up retail front since 2004. Target has no brick and motor presences in Manhattan proper to date, but time after time, has set up temporary outposts throughout the city selling their well sought after merchandise. Often these stores open in tandem with industry events such as Fashion Week and/or to celebrate the launch of limited designer collections. Moreover, pop-ups are proving to be beneficial opportunities for young designers (whose only reach to customers is through e-commerce and wholesale) to play hardball with the 5th Ave big shots. New York Magazine recently examined the economics of guerrilla retailing to see if this new trend could turn a profit for an up and coming designer. Using Lyz Olko’s line, Obesity and Speed, as a case study, they found that a lifespan of 60 days earned this rising designer $11,050 in the bank. Expenses for such stores include: set-up, marketing, opening party (optional), garment production, transporting merchandise, and staffing. Cost can be kept to a minimum as most pop-ups are taking a barebones approach to décor and focusing energy on the merchandise mix. This “movement of the moment” has opened the door for online operations such as BlueFly.com to step out of their comfort zone and gain some real-world experience. Ebay used popup’s to combat their flea market image and showoff a more upscale and innovative image.
Always on trend at Kenneth Park Architects, in addition to standard build-outs we have been working with clients such as MAC, BCBG, and Adidas from TX to CA to VA to NC to create temporary spaces that are consistent in design with their current stores. These shops provide the opportunity to offer "hot" trend items, seasonal products, and to test new products in the marketplace. Your favorite retailers are becoming more accessible and are giving you the opportunity to shop in a new light. This intentionally temporary style of retailing is sure to make a permanent dent on today’s retailing landscape.

Fashion Coast to Coast

New York City is hands-down known as America’s fashion capital. Next only to finance, fashion is the second-largest sector of industry in New York City—the headquarters of more than 800 fashion companies, employing 175,000 people and generating $10 billion in total wages. The City is even dedicating a whole evening, Fashion’s Night Out, to celebrate (and to boost) the consumer spirit. One cannot walk the streets of New York without becoming a part of the city itself; eclectic fashion statements add on to the social fabric and energy of the city. I n New York, clothes are not just forms of expressions, but armor protecting against us from unpredictable weather to armies of brief carrying suits and packs of eager tourists. Fashion may be an integral part of New York’s identity, but to think that Manhattan is the only fashion orientated city in the US is as big as a faux pas as wearing white after Labor Day. As New Yorkers, it is time to remove our oversized sunglasses and focus to see that fashion does exist beyond the 22.96 square miles that make up NYC.

America is basically one large runway spanning from coast to coast. A close examination shows that the West Coast from California to Oregon is home to many established and up-and-coming designers. With our West Coast based clients like: True Religion, Columbia Sportswear, Forever 21, BCBG, and Adidas, Kenneth Park has become red-eye experts at meeting with the clients’ in-house design teams and store planners alike to work out all the details for cutting-edge outlets, flagships, and boutiques. New York based clients such as Michael Kors, Tourneau, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Steve Madden are not missing out on the West Coast action as they are working with KPA to open stores across both California (Costa Mesa, San Francisco, Carlsbad, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and Pleasanton) and Washington (Bellevue). KPA’s Associate/Director of Business Development, Amie Tesler, just flew in from San Diego after attending ICSC’s Deal Making Conference where she had a unique opportunity to connect with tenants, industry experts, career builders and entrepreneurs as well as maintain business relationships within the Western region. This year’s sessions featured in-depth discussions on capital markets, political perspectives and the economy. Kenneth Park Architects prides itself on delivering the highest level of architecture and designs services and expertise for our clients and thus we have identified significant demand for our market model out West. Stay tuned for more information about KPAs West Coast expansion with the opening of our Los Angeles office. The office’s close proximity to clients will allows KPA to better serve them, while also offering access to a wider breadth of retailers and developers. Details to follow…for the time being, no matter your locale, keep shopping!

Countdown: 24 Hours 'til Beauty Takes Over Times Square

Celebrate with celebs such as Taylor Momsen, Adrienne Bailon and Alexandra and Theodora Richards as they help Sephora open their second Times Square Store on Friday, July 31st. Throughout the day, Sephora has some extra special opening day events planned such as setting the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS for Most Lipstick Applications by an Individual in One Hour.