32 THE CUT | MARCH 2–15, 2020to walk into, so I made sure that, if
it was going to be a clubhouse, we
welcomed everyone into the club.
If you are a retail associate, you are
a customer’s friend. You are also a
stylist; you’re not just selling
clothes. Some of those looks are
really difficult to put together.
That said, it increasingly
becomes a place for celebrities
to shop.
Jacky:One time, Lindsay Lohan,
Kim Kardashian, and Chloë
Sevigny all came into the store at
once. It had never really occurred
to me that there could be more
than one VIP at a time. Lindsay
came in first. She lived down the
street, so she came in often. So we
blocked out a fitting room for her,
then Kim came in with Kris
Jenner and we were like, “Uh ...
we don’t have a fitting room for
Kim.” I had to ask Kim if she
would share a fitting room with
Lindsay. Luckily, Chloë just came
in to pick something up. I’m not
even sure she was aware that was
all going on.
2008 Year of Japan
MarchIn an interview, Chloë
Sevigny is asked whom she would
ever want to collaborate with on a
fashion line, and she says,
“Opening Ceremony.” Humberto
asks her to lunch to see if she’s
serious. She is: The collection is a
huge hit, and they collaborate
many more times.
Chloë Sevigny:I started seeing
those Diamond sweatshirts
around town, and I was like,
Who makes those?So that was the
introduction. And then I guess
I saw H
[like S
So much of fashion and
streetwear tries to be so cool,
but they were more about family.Carol and Humberto have this
can-do attitude, and there’s no
cynicism. None. No “Ughs!” or
eye-roll-y fashion stuff, ever.
AugustThey keep the store open
for 72 hours straight to celebrate
the Olympics.
Jacky: We did an in-store dance
party with Hercules and Love
Affair. We did astrology readings
with Susan Miller. We did a
double-Dutch contest and Ping-
Pong tournament. It was a feat to
convince staff members to start
their shifts at 5 a.m.
By now, OC has its own blog,
with food maps for every city
and new music.
C:One of our most popular
columns was called “Wish You
Were Here,” and we would take
pictures of wherever we went on
our trips. One time, our friend
visited a really small village in
Ireland, and he was wearing the
Diamond sweatshirt. A girl who
worked at the pub knew what it
was because she read the blog. He
said she talked about the store and
us as if she knew us.
2009 The Scale-Up
Which means
e-commerce, more
collaborations, a
bigger wholesale
operation, and a store
in Japan.
Olivia:I really do
believe Opening
Ceremony put the
concept of
collaborations on the
map for retail stores.
C:Most of the time, [brands] had
no idea who we were or what we
were about, so we were always up
to the challenge of showing them
and proving a collaboration
through our lens could open up
their brands to a new audience.
In their e-commerce, store
employees and onetime interns,
like Anna Gray, are cast as models.
Anna Gray:Everyonethat worked
in the store could, in a pinch, be an
e-comm model. There were always
n and
ut e ne
man!” The shoots were a shitshow,
but in a fun way. I also doubled as
an intern, and I would just go therefor so many hours all the time and
I was paid in trade. They did
feed me lunch, though.
AugustOC partners with the
Japanese holding company
Onward to open its first store in
Tokyo after a buying trip leaves
them disappointed. Kirsten
Dunst, Jason Schwartzman,
Andy Samberg, and the Olsen
twins all attend the opening.
SeptemberOC collaborates with
Spike Jonze on aWhere the Wild
Things Arecollection. They sell
out of the $610 furry adult onesie
with ears and a tail in one hour.
H:I was introduced to Spike
through Jason Schwartzman at
Jason’s mom’s Christmas party.
We became best friends overnight.
WhenWhere the Wild Things Are
came out, we decided to do an
entirefaux-fur collection based on
each Wild Thing. He was like,
“Who’s going to want that?” And
we were like, “Trust us.” The day
that it launched, the first person
that came through the door was
Jake Gyllenhaal to buy that Max
outfit. He needed it.2010 Year of France
Carol Song,former buying
director:When we first started
with smaller countries, it was hard
to get more established designers
to understand what we were
doing. When we did France, we
were able to get a lot of cool young
French designers and then
someone as established as Jean
Paul Gaultier.
FebruaryThey open an outpost
inside the Ace Hotel near Madison
Square, which sells souvenirs like
Alexander Wang tote bags.
Solange and the Dirty Projectors
play at the opening party.
JuneThey expand next door in
Soho to 33 Howard, previously
home to a “hair salon” that was,curiously, not open during the
day. Of course, they throw another
pre-renovation party. This time,
Beyoncé comes.
Jesse Hudnutt,former sales
associate who became men’s
buying director:It was 90 percent
shop kids, but Humberto is good
friends with Solange, and Beyoncé
came, and it was kind of just ...
chill? We were all dancing
together in this little space.
2011 Year of Argentina
FebruaryOC collaborates with
Rodarte on a ready-to-wear
collection.
JulyCarol and Humberto are
appointed creative directors
at Kenzo.
C:We had been approached to
work on other brands and other
lines, but we thought about
brands that we’d be excited about
and Kenzo was on that list.
The first big hit, of course, is
a sweatshirt (with a tiger on it).
NovemberRihanna’sTalk That
Talkalbum comes out with her
wearing an OC sale-rack dress on
the cover.
Mel Ottenberg,
stylist:The
night beforethe
cover shoot,
I wanted to
change her look
for a new era.
I ran over to OC,
which is a block
from my studio,
and found an Opening Ceremony
camo minidress on a sale rack in
the basement.2012 Year of Korea
SeptemberOC celebrates its tenth
anniversary with a Rizzoli book
and a party at Webster Hall.
Phillips:The idea was that every
room would be a different
legendary New York party. We
had every amazing DJ, every
promoter, every crew of kids fromChloë Sevigny wearing Chloë
Sevigny for OC in 2010.2011
Rihanna wears
OC on her album
cover.2009
‘Where the
Wild
Things Are’
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)FEED