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

32 THECUT|MARCH2–15, 2020

towalkinto,soI madesurethat,if

it wasgoingtobea clubhouse,we

welcomedeveryoneintotheclub.

If youarea retailassociate,youare

a customer’sfriend.Youarealsoa

st ylist;you’renotjust selling

clothes.Someofthoselooksare

reallydifficulttoputtogether.

Thatsaid,it increasingly

becomesa placeforcelebrities

toshop.

Jacky:Onetime,LindsayLohan,

KimKardashian,andChloë

Sevigny allcameintothestoreat

once.It hadneverreallyoccurred

tomethattherecouldbemore

thanoneVIPata time.Lindsay

cameinfirst. Sheliveddownthe

street, soshecameinoften.Sowe

blockedouta fittingroomforher,

thenKimcameinwithKris

Jennerandwewerelike, “Uh...

wedon’t havea fittingroomfor

Kim.”I hadtoaskKimif she

wouldsharea fit tingroomwith

Lindsay. Luckily, Chloëjust came

intopicksomethingup.I’mnot

evensureshewasawarethat was

allgoingon.

2008 YearofJapan

MarchInaninterview,Chloë

Sevignyisaskedwhomshewould

everwanttocollaboratewithona

fashionline,andshesays,

“OpeningCeremony.” Humberto

askshertolunchtoseeif she’s

serious.Sheis:Thecollectionisa

hugehit,andtheycollaborate

manymoretimes.

ChloëSevigny:I startedseeing

thoseDiamondsweatshirts

aroundtown,andI waslike,

Whomakesthose?Sothat wasthe

introduction.AndthenI guess

I sawH

[likeS

Somuchoffashionand

streetweartriestobesocool,

buttheyweremoreaboutfamily.

CarolandHumbertohavethis

can-doat titude,andthere’s no

cynicism.None.No “Ughs!”or

eye-roll-yfashionstuff,ever.

AugustTheykeepthestoreopen

for 72 hoursstraighttocelebrate

theOlympics.

Jacky: We didanin-storedance

party withHerculesandLove

Affair. We didastrologyreadings

withSusanMiller. We dida

double-DutchcontestandPing-

Pongtournament.It wasa feat to

convincestaffmemberstostart

theirshiftsat 5 a.m.

Bynow,OChasitsownblog,

withfoodmapsforeverycity

andnewmusic.

C:Oneofourmostpopular

columnswascalled“WishYou

WereHere,”andwewouldtake

picturesofwhereverwewenton

ourtrips.Onetime,ourfriend

visiteda reallysmallvillagein

Ireland,andhewaswearingthe

Diamondsweatshirt. A girlwho

workedat thepubknew what it

wasbecauseshereadtheblog.He

saidshetalkedaboutthestoreand

usasif sheknewus.

2009 TheScale-Up

Whichmeans

e-commerce,more

collaborations,a

biggerwholesale

operation,anda store

inJapan.

Olivia:I reallydo

believeOpening

Ceremonyputthe

conceptof

collaborationsonthe

mapforretailstores.

C:Mostofthetime,[brands]had

noideawhowewereorwhatwe

wereabout,sowewerealwaysup

tothechallengeofshowingthem

andprovinga collaboration

throughourlenscouldopenup

theirbrandstoa new audience.

Intheire-commerce,store

employeesandonetimeinterns,

likeAnnaGray,are castasmodels.

AnnaGray:Everyonethatworked

inthestorecould,ina pinch,bean

e-commmodel.Therewerealways

n and

ut e ne

man!”Theshootswerea shitshow,

butina funway. I alsodoubledas

anintern,andI wouldjustgo there

forsomanyhoursallthetimeand

I waspaidintrade.Theydid

feedmelunch,though.

AugustOCpartnerswiththe

Japaneseholdingcompany

Onwardtoopenitsfirststore in

Tokyoaftera buyingtripleaves

themdisappointed.Kirsten

Dunst,JasonSchwartzman,

AndySamberg,andtheOlsen

twinsallattendtheopening.

SeptemberOCcollaborateswith

SpikeJonzeonaWheretheWild

ThingsArecollection.Theysell

outofthe$610furryadultonesie

withearsanda tailinonehour.

H:I wasintroducedtoSpike

throughJasonSchwartzmanat

Jason’s mom’s Christmasparty.

Webecamebest friendsovernight.

WhenWheretheWildThingsAre

cameout,wedecidedtodoan

entirefaux-furcollectionbasedon

eachWildThing.He waslike,

“Who’s goingtowantthat?”And

wewerelike,“Trustus.” Theday

thatit launched,thefirstperson

thatcamethroughthedoorwas

Jake Gyllenhaaltobuythat Max

outfit.He neededit.

2010 Yearof France

CarolSong,formerbuying

director:Whenwefirststarted

withsmallercountries,it washard

toget moreestablisheddesigners

tounderstandwhat wewere

doing.WhenwedidFr ance,we

wereabletoget a lotofcoolyoung

Frenchdesignersandthen

someoneasestablishedasJean

PaulGaultier.

FebruaryTheyopenanoutpost

insidetheAceHotelnearMadison

Square,whichsellssouvenirslike

AlexanderWangtotebags.

SolangeandtheDirtyProjectors

playattheopeningparty.

JuneTheyexpandnextdoorin

Sohoto 33 Howard,previously

hometoa “hairsalon” thatwas,

curiously,notopenduringthe

day.Ofcourse,theythrowanother

pre-renovationparty.Thistime,

Beyoncécomes.

JesseHudnutt,formersales

associatewhobecamemen’s

buyingdirector:It was 90 percent

shopkids,butHumbertois good

friendswithSolange,andBeyoncé

came,andit waskindofjust...

chill?Wewerealldancing

togetherinthislittlespace.

2011 Yearof Argentina

FebruaryOCcollaborateswith

Rodarteona ready-to-wear

collection.

JulyCarolandHumbertoare

appointedcreativedirectors

atKenzo.

C:Wehadbeenapproachedto

workonotherbrandsandother

lines,butwethoughtabout

brandsthat we’d beexcitedabout

andKenzowasonthatlist.

Thefirstbighit,ofcourse,is

a sweatshirt(witha tigeronit).

NovemberRihanna’sTalkThat

Talkalbumcomesoutwithher

wearinganOCsale-rackdresson

thecover.

MelOttenberg,

stylist:The

nightbeforethe

covershoot,

I wantedto

changeherlook

fora newera.

I ranovertoOC,

whichis a block

frommystudio,

andfoundanOpeningCeremony

camominidressona salerackin

thebasement.

2012 Yearof Korea

SeptemberOCcelebratesitstenth

anniversarywitha Rizzolibook

anda partyatWebsterHall.

Phillips:Theideawasthat every

roomwouldbea different

legendary NewYorkparty.We

hadevery amazingDJ, every

promoter,everycrew ofkidsfrom

ChloëSevignywearingChloë

SevignyforOCin 2010.

2011

Rihannawears

OConheralbum

cover.

2009

‘Wherethe

Wild

ThingsAre’

collection.

With Ashley, left, and Mary-Kate Olsen at
the Tokyo store opening in 2009.

The Tokyo store’s new location opened in 2013.

JUNKO KIMURA/GETTY IMAGES (OLSENS); KT AULETA (CHLOË SEVIGNY); GETTY IMAGES (BEYONCÉ, SYD MEAD); COURTESY OF OPENING CEREMONY (REMAINING)

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