Emily Bode is becoming quite the retail queen.
Click Here: kenzo men’s new collection
The buzzy men’s wear designer is opening her first pop-up, a 1,129-square-foot space during Art Basel Miami Beach. The shop, at 2621 Northwest Second Avenue, is a partnership with Appear Here, a start-up that helps businesses rent pop-up spaces in major cities around the world. The Bode pop-up, which will be open from Dec. 6 to 8, follows the opening of a permanent 800-square-foot retail location on Hester Street in New York’s Chinatown that the designer unveiled two weeks ago.
“This came about before we opened the store,” Bode said of the pop-up. She said she’d worked with Appear Here on various projects in the past and when she found out the company could secure space during the Miami art event, she jumped at the chance. The heavily trafficked area where the pop-up will be located will also be home to a lot of events during the show, she said.
“We’ve never done any kind of activation in Miami and I’ve never been to Art Basel, but I know we have a lot of crossover with the art space, so we thought we’d try something new,” Bode said. She said not only do artists and people connected to the art community wear her clothes, but customers who buy Bode at Opening Ceremony, Bergdorf Goodman and elsewhere also travel south to Art Basel.
The shop will sell pieces from Bode’s fall collection as well as new items including rugby pants in African cloth and graphic florals, embroideries and lace pieces, she said. The collection is still men’s wear, but a lot of women also wear the line, she said. Green River Project, a longtime collaborator with Bode for her shows and interior spaces, is providing furniture for the pop-up.
Bode said the Chinatown store has performed above expectations since opening on Nov. 18. “We made projections based on our e-commerce sales and we’ve surpassed those expectations by five times,” she said.
She said that if the pop-up is successful as well, she hopes to work with Appear Here on other locations in the future.