In an age when seasonal trends dominate the fashion world and celebrity tabloids dictate which designer “It” bag we should carry, the overall shopping experience can be downright boring. But for style aficionados looking to escape the tyranny of conformist fashion cliques, there is hope.
Enter New High (M)art. Owned and operated by two fashion industry experts with backgrounds in design and wholesale markets, Miho Ikeda and T-RIK are taking the hybrid retail model one step further with their pop-up store in Chinatown.
The concept behind the store-meets-gallery space is to showcase the work of a designer—be it clothing, accessories or knick-knacks—for six weeks, and reveal the designer’s many sides. In the case of L.A. fashion darling Brian Lichtenberg, whose work is on display until December 14, there are mix CDs, cool chromatic prism sunglasses that he picked up on a shopping excursion, and jewelry, which he co-designed with Alex & Chloe.
Inspired by avant-garde designer Martin Margiela as well as Rei Kawakubo’s guerrilla stores for Commes des Garçons, New High (M)art doesn’t follow the traditional “buying by the season” model, but rather focuses on entire collections that consumers miss out on, since retail buyers are known to only scoop up bits and pieces from each collection. “It’s really about exploring and breaking the mold of the typical shopping experience, not only for consumers but for the designers as well,” says T-RIK. The same philosophy rings true for the idea behind the pop-up store serving as a gallery-like space. “It’s like a blank canvas for us. We’re able to showcase whatever we want by using a unique model,” Ikeda says.
It was once considered a joke if art was mentioned in the same sentence as fashion; now, the two are an exhilarating blur. When fashion heavyweight Marc Jacobs collaborated with contemporary artist Richard Prince for the Louis Vuitton show this past September, with naughty nurses strutting down the runway paying tribute to Prince and his ubiquitous “Nurse Paintings,” it became clear that art and fashion have never been more connected. They’re crossing over in more ways than one, and New High (M)art is at the forefront of this creative movement.
While the lineup of designers is already set in stone for 2008, don’t expect to find out in advance whom the chosen few are. It is top secret, so keep your ears to the ground and your eyes on their website for what’s to come.
The Brian Lichtenberg pop-up store runs through December 14th at New High (M)art, 741 New High St.; 213-621-7822; newhighmart.com
Spotlight on: New High (M)art presents: Brian Lichtenberg
Art and fashion converge at this pop-up store in Chinatown
By Joanna Pena, Special to Metromix
November 19, 2007
(Credit: Joanna Pena)
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