INreview:

Wichcraft,  Malandrino, Boss & Benz…
Shop W Style in the Meatpacking District

W Magazine partnered with the businesses in the Meat Packing District on March 27th for what will undoubtedly be the first in a series of Shop W Style events.  The day, though a bit cool, was bright & sunny enough to make shopping for a Spring wardrobe boost a definite possibility.

The festivities began in The W Style Lounge in The Standard Hotel & soon moved to the Hugo Boss concept/flagship store on 14th Street for a breakfast catered by Wich Craft, while stylist extraordinaire Sarah Gore Reeves (pictured at left) shared her advice for enhancing a wardrobe in this difficult economy.   In a word, she stated that Spring was about “asymmetry”.  She went on to say that piece is right to buy this season when it is “different & challenging to the eye so that it will still look interesting in one’s wardrobe to the next 10years.”  Reeves also added that this could happen in any store you visit, as “every store has a ‘must have’ & it’s about adding a few of those pieces each season.”

The Hugo Boss concept store is anunique location in the chain where all 6 labels under the Boss moniker for both men & women are housed in a mix & match fashion under one roof.  As if the clothing weren’t enough, the architecture of the newly opened store upped the ante exponentially & made even the most eye popping of price tags much less worrisome.  The beauty of this product mix is that there truly is a range of options to fit any budget & any aesthetic, whether it be a novelty draped t-shirt for a casual day in the city or the most elegant of suits for an important function.

From Hugo Boss, it was next to Catherine Malandrino where the designer herself was scheduled for an interview with W Style Editor Treena Lombardo.  Ms. Malandrino says she knew at the early age of 8 that she wanted to be a fashion designer.  She was growing up in Paris at the time & realized she “wanted to be a part of a different lifestyle [than the one she was living] & fashion was it.”  She was asked about her inspirations (“a type of woman more than a historical figure”) & her muses (“even Madonna as she is a cameleon, but also Alisha Keys & Mary J. Blige”).  She was understandably most passionate when she spoke about her partnership with Ms. Blige & her charity, FFAWN, for which she has created a t-shirt as a fundraiser.  She summed up her efforts by saying, “together we can achieve so many bigger things, so I want to give back to achieve even bigger things.”

From Malandrino, most caught a lunch in one of the participating restaurants in the area before shopping a few hours before concluding the day with an interview with red hot up & comer Chris Benz.

-Scott French