NY finally got their Monocle shop earlier this week in the West Village. The store features a constantly evolving collection of fashion and lifestyle products as well as the new design collaborations from Oliver Spencer, the Tomorrowland x Monocle travel suit series, and the Ettinger card case. Covering just 188 sq ft, the store, located in a red brick landmark building, features Monocle magazine’s distinctive black-and-white design format, created by Monocle’s team of designers in London. The shop also has wooden floors, a slatted oak screen built by local artist and carpenter Kenon Perry, Vitsoe shelving, and a fully retractable glass store front.

535 Hudson Street (at Charles Street), NYC

Shoreditch’s recently opened men’s boutique Hostem is a stand-out stop for shoppers combing the streets of East London’s ever-burgeoning neighborhood. Proprietor James Brown sought to marry his favorite, though often disparate, sartorial aesthetics under one roof, yielding a selection of offerings that are both austere and artisanal.

From the tightly edited cadre of brands (Ann Demeulemeester, Casely-Hayford, Adam Kimmel) to Hostem’s JAMESPLUMB-conceived interiors, the store’s concept of elegant, intelligent design unifies the space and its contents. “So many cultures have influenced me from living in Umbria to Los Angeles,” Brown explains. “It was important my various experiences were reflected in Hostem.” It’s fitting, then, that the décor—Swedish linen curtains, hand-painted hessian wall panels and front desk-cum-former church pew—contributes a balancing sense of calm and quiet. That the shop takes its name from the Latin “audio hostem,” or “I hear the enemy,” further suggests Brown’s potential antagonists are anything too gaudy or trendy. (JCReport)  More after the jump.

41-43 REDCHURCH STREET – LONDON – E2 7DJ

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Interesting read on HuffPo: Looking around, it appears that there is a youth frenzy in every creative industry. From music to art to fashion, people are going crazy for everything indie. Retailers like Urban Outfitters are taking their cues from young designers, and the young populations of urban cities are looking to be outfitted by fresh and exciting brands. Yet, beyond the simple intuition of its presence, it is hard to determine the actual market size that exists to support emerging designers. After speaking to analysts, venture capitalists, and consultants about this demand, it quickly became evident that actual data and sales figures were nearly impossible to find.The luxury industry is notoriously hazy in presenting earnings. Even large public companies like LVMH show earnings in such a way that only exposes the revenue generated by the company as a whole rather than by its individual brands.

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J.Crew opened their 4th men’s store in NY earlier this week. VMan reports: The two-storied, 3,400-square-foot space houses designer Frank Muytjens’s tightly edited collection of outerwear, shirting, denim, and of course men’s grooming finishes. Using reclaimed wood from old barns, the interior feels (and sort of smells) as if you’re inside an Algonquin Park cabin – but there’s a catch: Mid way through the lower level, you eventually come face-to-face with “The Vault”. As intimidating as the word seems, “The Vault” (an ancient heavy metal bank vault) contains Men’s Shop carryalls, vintage collectables and a selection of shoes (to go perfectly with your tailored suiting needs). With walls full of neatly folded flannels and antique apothecary knickknacks, something tells us we’re going to be spending a lot more time uptown… More pics after the jump.

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We always enjoy reading about the behind the scenes at J Crew and this week Business Week has a fun read. Here’s an excerpt:

Through dozens of innovative partnerships, Frank Muytjens is putting J.Crew menswear front and center …   Drexler, 65, has long been admired for his obsessiveness, and in Muytjens, 50, he has found his ideal employee. Clad in a vintage Japanese work shirt and perfectly weathered 10-year-old Levi’s cuffed over J.Crew’s own brown Sperry Top-Siders, Muytjens is tall and slim with a silver pompadour. He grew up in Holland and moved to New York in 1994 to establish himself as a designer. After working at Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) for eight years, he landed at J.Crew in 2004. In 2008 he took over as head of men’s design. Now he’s leading the brand’s transformation—a gradual updating and upscaling of its preppy look that began when Drexler joined the company in 2003….

Read the full story here.

photo: prepidemic

A nice message from the good people at Kitsuné. “Our BOUTIQUE KITSUNÉ PARISIEN is travelling and crossing the atlantic bridge to make a pocket store at BARNEYS NEWYORK September 10th to October 1st 2010. The first item from the Kitsuné Parisien collection, a 100 % maille piquée cotton polo made in France for men and women, will be on display along with garments from the new Fall Winter 2010 IVY League women’s collection, along with a three coloured canvas bag, a key-folder, new candles Mint&Moss CDs… The whole installation will be set up on a wooden trunk designed especialy for the occasion by The Hansen Family (new scandinavian design – handmade furniture – homegrown wood) and Kitsuné.” (Selectism)

San Francisco’s Union Made Goods has been offering timeless menswear and accessories from brands like Alden, Gitman Vintage,  Nigel Cabourn, Filson and Steele Canvas since November 2009. Now their goods are available online here.

The Webster, a South Beach luxury boutique, has transformed the ground floor of the 20,000-square-foot space into a surfing-inspired pop-up store called Surf the Webster. Conceived in collaboration with Timothee Verrecchia (the editor of L’Officiel Homme and the multi-hyphenate behind such disparate ventures as the new Café Gitane at the Jane Hotel and D.J.’ing with his brother as Tim & Vass), it’s intended to educate shoppers about Florida’s surf culture. Along with the surfboards, books and accessories will be educational talks and panels intended to create a community for surfers. The swell store, which is open until Aug. 31, also offers a variety of exclusive products, including Basta Swimsuits, original prints from the pro surfer turned photographer Danny Fuller and surfboards by both Baron Wells and SoHo’s own surf shop, Saturdays. A bonus of visiting the Collins Avenue store is that 10 percent of the proceeds will benefit the Surfrider Foundation, which promotes protection and enjoyment of the world’s beaches. Get amped, dude. Surf the Webster is located on the ground floor of the Webster, 1220 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Fla. For more information, visit thewebstermiami.com (T)

We recently began working with Portable, the New York based digital media company, to help us launch our very first e-commerce venture, (capsule) Travel Mart with their platform Portable Shops. Portable Shops made building an online store super easy and affordable. Anyone with a desire to open an online shop can build their own e-commerce experience and completely customize the look and feel to suit their brand.Each store comes with pre-designed functionality such as look-book profiles, press galleries, stockist lists and online store items that take  into account the uniqueness of fashion online. More advanced stores allow designers to sell their entire collection through Facebook, check and update stock through their mobile phone and run targeted sales and discount campaigns. A range of free templates are also available for emerging designers who can’t afford the initial costs of hiring a web designer but need to engage with their online audience. Check it out here, and start selling something!