New York City Buying Trip for SS24
If you've spent any time at all chatting with us at the shop, you probably know we love visiting New York City and look forward to making our way there at least twice a year for our buying trips. Although we always seem to have issues with getting there or back (leave it to Air Canada to cancel your flight 30 minutes before take off...), once we arrive in the city itself the energy, culture and happenings seem to find a way to give us some much needed inspiration to bring back to Ottawa.
On day 1, after our traditional breakfast at Russ & Daughters Cafe (Lower Sunny Side for the win), we met up with Chris at the Gitman Vintage showroom located in Little Italy. We've been carrying Gitman since we opened our doors in 2017 and by now, everyone is aware that they bring the heat when it comes to summer shirts. This season was no exception, and it was predictably difficult to make our pull of styles to order for the shop next year. It was also great chatting with Chris at Gitman and picking his brain about the current state of menswear and fashion in general. Since we only had one meeting for the day, we grabbed lunch at the trendy and healthy Le Botaniste close to the showroom, thanks to Chris' recommendation, and spent the rest of the day visiting various shops around the city.
On day 2, we made the journey out to Long Island City to see the Engineered Garments showroom. This appointment is always an exciting one, since their collection is quite large. With it being one of our favourite brands, we also look forward to seeing any new styles, as well as which of our favourites are back in the lineup. Engineered Garments is known for spicing up classic garments using unsuspecting fabrics, and one of the standout pieces that we were loving was the wind breaker in nylon leopard print. This piece is really the perfect lightweight jacket and we can't wait to receive it at the shop in time for spring, along with a bunch of other amazing styles.
After grabbing lunch at Chikarashi on Canal Street, which is literally the best Poke bowl we've ever had, we walked down to Spring Studios to attend the MAN/WOMAN show where our friends at Merz b. Schwanen had a booth to show off their SS24 collection. We chatted with Robert and Peter about the new line and placed bets on whether Jeremy Allen White would wear their 215 t-shirt while accepting the Emmy award for his role on The Bear.
And just like that, our appointments came to an end for this trip. Since we did have an extra day to spend in the city, we took full advantage by walking all over town, hanging out in the parks, hitting up more shops and eating as much as possible. Some of the many highlights included stopping in at the new Nepenthes New York store, slices at Scarr's Pizza and the bacon egg and cheese from Don Juan.
