CLOSING UP SHOP: Lauren Bush Lauren has decided to close the Feed Shop & Cafe in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn after five years.
In an Instagram post Friday, Lauren wrote, “It’s been an amazing run thanks to our awesome customers and community who came to the Feed Shop for their morning coffee brewed by @lacolombecoffee, to shop our @feed products and finds, and for the talks, book signings and events we hosted in the space. Together we were able to give over 1 million school meals globally and in Brooklyn!”
Lauren said it was always a dream of hers to open her own store, and she enjoyed designing it “with the help of the super talented Michael Gilmore” and curating and setting up shop. “To see it open every day thanks to our stellar store team and bustling with locals and tourists alike was such a joy. Thank you so much to everyone who supported us along the way,” she wrote. “And when you may not be able to visit us in DUMBO anymore, we are always open online,” she added.
Lauren told WWD Friday, “I’m so proud of all we accomplished in five years with our first physical store. Together with the DUMBO community and our customers from near and far, we helped provide one million schools meals through Feed Shop & Cafe purchases. For now, we’re always open at feedprojects.com and as they say, when one door closes, another opens. We have lots in the works at Feed to offer more ways to make the world a better place.”
As reported in WWD in May 2017, Lauren opened her Feed shop that featured a seating area, allowing customers to enjoy a cup of coffee or simply hang out. Feed Heritage coffee blend loaded by La Colombe and select pastry offerings from City Bakery were available for purchase. The shop, at 55 Water Street in DUMBO, offered an assortment of Feed handbags and accessories, along with “Feed Finds,” a selection of other socially conscious items, providing customers opportunities to give back with their purchase. At the time of the opening, Feed’s in-store exclusive Brooklyn tote ($35) provided 10 meals with each purchase to Brooklyn schools.
WWD reported March 31 that that Monica Rich Kosann has partnered with Lauren’s Feed brand on a second edition of limited-edition jewelry designs to benefit Lauren’s cause around food insecurity.
In addition, Clarins is continuing its partnership with Feed Projects, with its spring gift-with-purpose program. Nordstrom, Saks and Dillard’s will have a pink floral-motif pouch, while Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s will offer a tote bag, as reported. — LISA LOCKWOOD
PUMP-UP: Sunnei’s founders Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo are aiming to breathe fresh air into retail with their latest, irony-filled move: an inflatable pop-up format.
Focused on celebrating the Milan-based brand’s “It” bags Labauletto and Lacubetto, the pop-up concept originated from the duo’s idea of having a versatile installation, easy to ship and reuse, as it was supposed to travel across the world.
Messina and Rizzo commissioned the project with hip design collective Parasite 2.0, which came up with a lightweight silver shape reminiscent of a stone and caved to feature small niches displaying the colorful accessories. The itinerant installation, appropriately called “Lapietra,” which translates into “the rock” in English, will debut this week at GR8 in Tokyo, before moving to the Univers d’homme et femme store in Manila, Philippines, and Bloc in Hangzhou, China.
Although the pop-up project mainly targets Asia, which is a key market for the brand, the installation will also touch base in the U.S. and Europe, before ending its tour in July in Milan at Sunnei’s first home, the flagship in Via Vela that served as the brand’s headquarters in the early stages of the business.
Sunnei’s inflatable installation.
Courtesy of Sunnei
First introduced in 2019, the Labauletto rectangular leather bag with adjustable shoulder strap retails at $1,077 and comes in classic black and navy as well as popping shades of azure, orange and acid green. Rendered in the same palette, which also includes beige, white and mustard tones, the Lacubetto cubic option is priced $835.
Accessories are one of the bestselling categories for the fashion label, which also offers footwear, sunglasses, hats and a successful series of rubberized earrings to complement its ready-to-wear offering.
As reported, last year, the brand also launched the Sunnei Objects lifestyle line marking a further step in the company’s expansion, which accelerated following Vanguards Group’s acquisition of a majority stake in September 2020. The fund, whose portfolio includes Nanushka, Aeron and the fashion commerce software solution Skala, invested 6 million euros in Sunnei. — SANDRA SALIBIAN
SANS YE, KIM REBRANDS: Kim Kardashian is continuing the relaunch of her beauty empire.
The reality TV star-turned-entrepreneur announced on Friday that she is shuttering her KKW Fragrance brand on May 1 and will be relaunching the brand at a yet to be revealed date.
Kim Kardashian West in Mugler at the 2019 Met Gala.
Lexie Moreland/WWD
“On May 1 at midnight, @kkwfragrance will be shutting down the website so that we can relaunch fragrance in the future under a brand new name — and under a new web store where you can purchase from all beauty categories under one site,” Kardashian wrote in her Instagram Stories. “Fragrance, as many of you know, is deeply personal for me. I put my heart and soul into every bottle, and I’m so incredibly proud of every KKW Fragrance product and collaboration that we have launched since Crystal Gardenia in 2017.”
The news of KKW Fragrance’s relaunch comes after Kardashian shuttered her KKW Beauty brand in July, announcing at the time that she will be relaunching the brand in a similar fashion — under a new name and website.
At the time, it was speculated that Kardashian was rebranding in order to drop the “W” from the brand’s name due to her divorce proceedings from Kanye West. A source close to Kardashian told WWD that KKW Beauty’s rebrand has “nothing to do with dropping the ‘W’ from KKW.”
“Kim is still Kim Kardashian West and has not changed her legal name,” the source said in July. “The rebrand has been in the works for some time. Kanye actually helped Kim come up with the new name and the packaging. The innovative formulas and even the shopping experience of being able to shop all categories in beauty and cosmetics under one brand, one website has always been Kim’s vision from the beginning. She is incredibly excited about this next phase.”
Since then, Kardashian’s divorce from West has been finalized, and she has dropped “West” from her legal name.
KKW Beauty and Fragrance’s rebrands come after Kardashian made a deal with Coty Inc. in June — a licensing deal for $200 million for a 20 percent stake in Kardashian’s beauty brands. When Kardashian’s beauty brand relaunches, it is expected she will introduce skin care to her brand’s offerings.
For the next month, KKW Fragrance’s products will be 40 percent off on the brand’s website.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your loyalty and love these last few years,” she continued in the post. “I cannot wait to introduce you to the next chapter of my fragrance journey — I promise I won’t be gone for too long.” — LAYLA ILCHI
GREGG’S NEW GIG: Rue21 has tapped social media star and makeup artist Avani Gregg as its first influencer.
Gregg has millions of followers on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. For the Rue21 campaign, Gregg selected her favorite pieces from Rue21’s spring girls assortment. The edit includes 10 outfits with a range of jeans, screen T-shirts, seamless tanks, active bottoms and dresses in sizes XS-4X priced starting from $12.99 to $44.99 per item. These pieces were strategically picked to reflect Avani’s version of a “Spring Staycation” with a West Coast vibe. The limited grouping will be available through the end of June.
Rue21 targets 15- to 25-year-old Gen Z customers and the Warrendale, Pa.-based specialty retailer operates more than 650 brick-and-mortar locations and rue21.com. It sells affordable, “on-trend,” private-label fashion including lots of jeans, jeggings, sweaters and hoodies, in regular and plus-sizes, with much of the assortment in the $20 to $40 range. — DAVID MOIN
Avani Gregg in Rue21.
DESIGN KICKS: With the ever-growing popularity of sneakers, Savannah College of Art and Design has launched the first accredited sneaker design minor.
Based on student interest and alumni success in the industry, the minor is designed to propel graduates to the top of the $80 billion international industry. SCAD alumni are already working with leading brands such as Nike, Adidas, Yeezy, Reebok and Skechers, or creating their own successful companies.
The first sneaker design minor students are enrolled for the spring quarter, which started last week.
SCAD is offering the very first minor in sneaker design.
courtesy shot.
The SCAD sneaker design minor is available to students at both SCAD Savannah and Atlanta locations and includes new courses specifically created to teach innovative and sustainable design and manufacturing practices.
The minor includes five courses designed to develop students’ knowledge and design skills in sketching, rendering, concept development, digital prototyping and branding for luxury and high-performance sneakers. The courses seek to ensure that students complete the minor with a professional quality portfolio that includes both physical and digital prototypes of original sneaker designs.
SCAD will host two sneaker design conversations at the upcoming SCADStyle 2022 signature event. On April 5 in Savannah and April 6 in Atlanta, SCAD alumni will take part in the panel, “Up Your Game: The Future of Sneaker Design, moderated by SCAD professor and footwear designer Michael Mack.
Paula Wallace, president and founder of SCAD, said SCAD grads work for some of the biggest names in the shoe industry, noting that SCAD alum Quintin Williams launched Q4Sports, where he’s the cofounder and chief global designer, with NBA stars.
“So many SCAD Bees are already at the top of the sneaker game, and SCAD’s new sneaker design program empowers future sneakerheads everywhere to leap into their creative careers. It’s a slam dunk,” said Wallace. — L.L.
Source: WWD