New York Magazine - USA (2020-03-02)

30 THECUT|MARCH 2 15, 2020

2000 AnIdeaIs Born

ThetwofriendsmovetoNewYork

andbeginworkinginfashion,

CarolatBally(aftera stintasan

investmentbanker)andHumberto

atBurberry.InApril,theyvisit

HongKong:Theyshop,meet

designers,eat,andgetmassages.

Theyal

they’ll t

andbringbackwhattheyfind.

Carol:Ontheplane,wewerelike,

“Everyonewouldloveallthisstuff!”

2001 ‘Let’sDoThis’

CarolandHumbertomeetevery

Sundaytohashouta business

planoverdimsum—cheungfun

(shrimpricerolls),turnipcakes,

chivedumplings,andporkbuns—

atJingFongonElizabethStreet.

Thehardpartiscomingup

a

to d toberootedin

theideaoftravel.We kept

throwingoutnameslike“Terminal”

andthenwewouldbelike,“Oh

myGod,no.Thatsoundslike

‘terminallyill.’ ”

C:They allseemedsopretentious.

H:OurfriendShannonHanwas

like,“Whatabout‘Opening

Ceremony?’” Andwewerelike,

“Y oucan’t reallymake funof

that.”Ceremonyis a hardwordto

bebitchyabout.

END OF AN ERA

“You Had to Be There”

ByEmiliaPetrarca

atthestartofthisyear, OpeningCeremony announcedit hadbeenboughtbytheNew

GuardsGroupandwouldbeclosingitsfourretaillocations:theflagshiponHoward

Street,whereit allstarted;theshopintheAceHotelnearMadisonSquare;andthestores

inLosAngelesandTokyo(whichwasthefirsttoshut).OCwasfoundedin 2002 bybest friends

CarolLimandHumbertoLeon,whomet assophomoresat UCBerkeley(“Webondedoverher

studying,megoingout,meforcinghertogo out,andmenotstudy-

ing,”Humbertooncesaid).In everythingthey did,they operated

oninstinct andenthusiasm.It paidoff. OCquicklybecamethe

definingstoreofitsera—ahubforthefashion-curiousseekingnew

brandsfrombotharoundtheglobeandemerginglocaltalent.

Many NewYorkersfirstmet Acne,AlexanderWang,andeven

Havaianasthere.TheSoholocationwasa clubhousefortheworld

famousanddowntownfamous,whoallconsideredthemselves

“family.” Butit alsostrovetobea placewhereanyonecouldhang

out.“It’s like yourfavoriterecordstore,buta clothingstore,”ChloëSevignytoldthismagazinein

2010,shortlyafterthecompany expandedtoJapan.But,aswithrecordstoresbeforeit,themusic

movedelsewhere.“Youhadtobethere,” saysHumberto.

35 HowardStreet,where itallbegan.

CarolLimandHumbertoLeon
asBerkeleyundergradsin1995.

Riffing on the idea of the

Olympics, they decide that each

year will be dedicated to a

different country, with designers

from around the world

“competing” with local ones.

August They each have $10,000

saved up and give notice at work.

H: We thought we were loaded.

September After 9/11, they take

their bosses’ advice to not leave their

jobs after all. But a couple of months

later, they decide they can’t undream

their dream. They find their way to

a pro bono business adviser at Pace

University, where they get help

drafting a real business plan.

H: The original was like, “Our

store is going to be open from

9 a.m. to midnight, maybe 2 a.m.

We’re going to have a register that

sits on this big lazy Susan, and

then at 8 p.m., the lazy Susan turns

from a register to a DJ booth.

Basically, we think all our friends

are going to want to hang out and

shop until two.” But they were

like, “Guys, banks don’t want to

see anything about a lazy Susan.”

C: We still have the version

with the lazy Susan. In the next

iteration, it’ll come back.

2002 Howard Street Is Home

A bank loans them $20,000, and

they rent a former fabric store with

a “massage parlor” in the

basement on an out-of-the-way

stretch at the southern terminus of

An oral history of

Opening Ceremony,

New York’s most

downtown-y retail

store, on the

eve of its closing.

By Emilia Petrarca

2013

The tote.