Fashion

Could New York Indie Retail Make a Comeback?

So much for that old stereotype about New Yorkers only wearing black. Laura Baker tells me that her fashion buyer friends from other cities have been marveling that “New York is like a bag of Skittles. People are wearing color here.” Baker adds, “That’s what we like. We bought a lot of color.”

“We” refers to the retail destination ESSX, soft opening on Thursday. When I visited last week, Baker, the store’s co-founder and retail director, and her team were putting the finishing touches on the 7,000-square-foot Leong and Leong-designed interior. “Everyone kept saying, ‘We can’t wait to see it.’” she tells me of the still-slightly-raw space. “And we kept saying, ‘Well, us too.’ Two weeks ago, our project manager, Dara, was like, ‘It’s going to open. It’s going to open.’ I’m like, ‘Are you sure?’ There’s plaster, wires, everything, but nope, it’s here. It’s all happening.”

essx and new york independent retail stores

Courtesy of Trey Crews

A look at the store’s interior.

On the Lower East Side’s bustling Essex Street, the store looks out onto a liquor store and a vape shop. A sign for “New York Hardcore Tattoos” can be seen from the corner. Inside, conversely, is a calm, spaceship-like space, a UFO in the concrete jungle, dotted with ottomans from Darren Romanelli that are made from upcycled jeans and T-shirts. Baker says the team wanted the store to reflect “what we want to buy, what the kids in the neighborhood are wearing, versus—there’s nothing wrong with them, but big brand names that are highly promoted. We wanted to bring back a real discoverability aspect.”

We want to see New York win.”

Together, we reminisce about the lost days of New York independent retail: befriending that sales associate at Barneys who would clue you in to the right up-and-coming labels, or stumbling across a new designer in Opening Ceremony in a buzzed post-brunch haze. Further back in time is Charivari, where Marc Jacobs once cut his teeth as a stock boy. Those kinds of places have become thin on the ground, thanks to the pandemic, economic uncertainty, and the dominance of e-commerce. But if anyone can make brick-and-mortar great again, it’s the team behind ESSX: Baker and co-founders Yoel Zagelbaum and Abe Pines, along with style director Lauren Ferreira, who has worked at Kith and as a wardrobe assistant to Drake.

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Charivari Boutique owner Selma Weiser with her son Jon and daughter Barbara.

When Baker told people about the new project, she says, she heard a lot of sentiments like, “‘I can’t believe you’re opening retail. It’s so scary. You’re in for it. Say goodbye to the rest of your life. Or ‘If it’s not experiential, then it’s not worth doing.’ Or ‘How are you redefining retail?’ And the thing is, what does that even mean? I see headlines all the time about experiential retail. Do you want a circus tent in here? Do you want acrobats coming from the ceiling?”

Ultimately, she says, “I think experiential is person to person. People have forgotten how to interface and have a conversation.” She wants a trip to the store to feel “more like a hangout: ‘Hey, let’s get to know the brand.’ If they find something amazing, I mean, we hope they walk away with something, but it really is about learning.”