Latest news with #Colbo
The Star
6 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Books, ephemera and taste: How fashion shops are also selling culture
To run a buzzy menswear shop in New York these days, it helps to have a few things. Great clothes, of course. Tasteful decor (Noguchi lanterns and ceramic vessels are de rigueur). Friendly, stylish salespeople certainly don't hurt. Increasingly, a stack of books is also a must. Preferably of rare and elusive provenance, concerning matters of art and design, and, in many cases, provided by a neatly dressed bespectacled man named Geoff Snack. 'Whenever I put books in a retail store, it's like: How can this help people?' Snack, 40, said one afternoon this spring. 'How can this contribute to the understanding of what this shop is about, what the brands are about?' He was flipping through a pile of books he had sourced for the clothing store and coffeeshop Colbo on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Stacked on a small table beside a rack of earth-toned clothing were ones featuring Cindy Sherman's shape-shifting photos, an Ellsworth Kelly catalogue and a volume dedicated to the concept of sisterhood. Read more: This menswear savant gets paid to travel the world and buy cool vintage pieces 'It's like the cafe and music we play,' said Eldar Hadad, one of Colbo's owners, as she sold sugar-dusted morning buns. 'It invites you to linger when you have books – you can skim through and you're welcome to stay, read, have a coffee.' Lingering, she noted, is a strategy to help encourage sales. It also aligns with a recent retail trend of conjuring an intimate atmosphere, as if customers weren't shopping at a store but rather hanging out at a chic friend's apartment. Snack's modest literary empire extends to a smattering of popular stores in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, most of which specialise in menswear: J Crew's store on Bond Street, Noah in NoLIta and Ven Space in Carroll Gardens are among them. In Canada, where he grew up and went to school, he has provided books to pop-up shops by the brand Stone Island and the popular boutique Better Gift Shop. 'I think books and unique items help tell the same stories that inspire our clothing,' said Brendon Babenzien, the men's creative director at J Crew and a founder of Noah. 'Fashion and the choices we make around it are deeply tied to our personal interests, and the items we select reflect those same interests. In that way, they complement each other perfectly.' Prices for the books range from US$45 to US$600 (approximately RM190 to RM2,537) for a single volume and are often sold to stores on a consignment basis. Snack calls himself a 'book and paper dealer' because he also traffics in printed ephemera. A drink ticket from Studio 54, a business card advertising a 1986 pop-up shop by Keith Haring and an artist-designed menu from the shuttered SoHo restaurant Chanterelle are some of the things he has listed on his website, Wrong Answer. Geoff Snack provides a curated collection of books, preferably of rare and elusive provenance, to fashion boutiques. Photo: The New York Times 'I really love seeing the stuff that I sell out in the world,' Snack said. 'For me, it's really fun to be a part of the visual landscape of the city.' Peddling books to trendy stores may be a niche gig, but it's not exactly unusual. The fashion and literary worlds have long had a symbiotic relationship, each borrowing liberally from the other. Booksellers at Left Bank Books, for instance, have supplied art and design volumes to vintage clothing shop Sorbara's in Williamsburg, which also has framed posters from Snack hanging on its walls. Des Pair Books in Los Angeles has curated books for Frontier, a store in West Hollywood, California, and for clothing brand Buck Mason's outpost in Nashville, Tennessee. 'Books in stores are, essentially, cultural accessories,' said Judith Thurman, a New Yorker writer who has covered fashion for the magazine, which this year introduced merchandise with J Crew. 'They're consumed like that. You would buy a cool necklace and a book with a cool cover.' Not to mention, the fashion set has long had an interest in what's known as 'world building'. Read more: These brothers are Malaysian fashion's next act – guess who their father is Books – especially rare ones concerning highbrow matter, like those Snack sells – can be tools for telegraphing taste or authenticity. Stores that sell contemporary clothing alongside vintage books and printed ephemera, said W David Marx, the author of Status And Culture: How Our Desire For Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion and Constant Change , are 'kind of associating these new products that you make with this heritage'. Snack caught the collecting bug as a child in Peterborough, Ontario, where he frequented flea markets with his father, who liked to hunt down Coca-Cola memorabilia. Snack preferred to forage for video games, hockey trading cards and, later, magazines and punk albums. He recalled cutting out pictures from Wallpaper magazine and hanging them in his bedroom as a teen. He sought out art and design books in Toronto, where he studied English at the University of Toronto, and visited local book shops whenever he travelled. At some point he crossed the fine line from casual enthusiast to collector. 'I was never going to own a Warhol,' he said. 'But I could get a Warhol book, or a poster from one of his early shows. It was just getting myself into closer proximity with the culture I love.' At first he wasn't interested in selling anything from his collection. But a book dealer he met in Boston hatched the idea. 'She said to me: 'Every collector becomes a dealer. It's inevitable,'' he remembered. 'And now that I look back on it, she was totally right.' This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Observer
25-07-2025
- Business
- Observer
Fashion meets literature in the hands of a collector
BLURB: Peddling books to trendy stores may be a niche gig, but it's not exactly unusual. The fashion and literary worlds have long had a symbiotic relationship, each borrowing liberally from the other. To run a buzzy menswear shop in New York these days, it helps to have a few things. Great clothes, of course. Tasteful décor. Friendly, stylish salespeople certainly don't hurt. Increasingly, a stack of books is also a must. Preferably of rare and elusive provenance, concerning matters of art and design and, in many cases, provided by a neatly dressed bespectacled man named Geoff Snack. 'Whenever I put books in a retail store, it's like: How can this help people?' Snack, 40, said one afternoon this spring. 'How can this contribute to the understanding of what this shop is about, what the brands are about?' He was flipping through a pile of books he had sourced for the clothing store and coffee-shop Colbo on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Stacked on a small table beside a rack of earth-toned clothing were ones featuring Cindy Sherman's shape-shifting photos, an Ellsworth Kelly catalog and a volume dedicated to the concept of sisterhood. 'It's like the cafe and music we play', said Eldar Hadad, one of Colbo's owners, as she sold sugar-dusted morning buns. 'It invites you to linger when you have books — you can skim through and you're welcome to stay, read, have a coffee'. Geoff Snack, a vintage and rare book dealer, rummages through a box of books for display in the Colbo menswear store, in Manhattan. Lingering, she noted, is a strategy to help encourage sales. It also aligns with a recent retail trend of conjuring an intimate atmosphere, as if customers weren't shopping at a store but rather hanging out at a chic friend's apartment. Snack's modest literary empire extends to a smattering of popular stores in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, most of which specialise in menswear: J Crew's store on Bond Street, Noah in NoLIta and Ven Space in Carroll Gardens are among them. In Canada, where he grew up and went to school, he has provided books to pop-up shops by the brand Stone Island and the popular boutique Better Gift Shop. 'I think books and unique items help tell the same stories that inspire our clothing', said Brendon Babenzien, the men's creative director at J Crew and a founder of Noah. 'Fashion and the choices we make around it are deeply tied to our personal interests and the items we select reflect those same interests. In that way, they complement each other perfectly'. Prices for the books range from $45 to $600 for a single volume and are often sold to stores on a consignment basis. Snack calls himself a 'book and paper dealer' because he also traffics in printed ephemera: a drink ticket from Studio 54, a business card advertising a 1986 pop-up shop by Keith Haring and an artist-designed menu from the shuttered SoHo restaurant Chanterelle are some of the things he has listed on his website, Wrong Answer. 'I really love seeing the stuff that I sell out in the world', Snack said. 'For me, it's really fun to be a part of the visual landscape of the city'. Peddling books to trendy stores may be a niche gig, but it's not exactly unusual. The fashion and literary worlds have long had a symbiotic relationship, each borrowing liberally from the other. Booksellers at Left Bank Books, for instance, have supplied art and design volumes to vintage clothing shop Sorbara's in Williamsburg, which also has framed posters from Snack hanging on its walls. Des Pair Books in Los Angeles has curated books for Frontier, a store in West Hollywood, California and for clothing brand Buck Mason's outpost in Nashville, Tennessee. Geoff Snack, a vintage and rare book dealer, in Sorbara's clothing shop in Brooklyn. Not to mention, the fashion set has long had an interest in what's known as 'world building'. Books — especially rare ones concerning highbrow matter, like those Snack sells — can be tools for telegraphing taste or authenticity. Stores that sell contemporary clothing alongside vintage books and printed ephemera, said W David Marx, the author of 'Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion and Constant Change', are 'kind of associating these new products that you make with this heritage'. Snack caught the collecting bug as a child in Peterborough, Ontario, where he frequented flea markets with his father, who liked to hunt down Coca-Cola memorabilia. Snack preferred to forage for video games, hockey trading cards and, later, magazines and punk albums. He recalled cutting out pictures from Wallpaper magazine and hanging them in his bedroom as a teen. He sought out art and design books in Toronto, where he studied English at the University of Toronto and visited local book shops whenever he travelled. At some point he crossed the fine line from casual enthusiast to collector. 'I was never going to own a Warhol', he said. 'But I could get a Warhol book, or a poster from one of his early shows. It was just getting myself into closer proximity with the culture I love'. At first, he wasn't interested in selling anything from his collection. But a book dealer he met in Boston hatched the idea. 'She said to me: 'Every collector becomes a dealer. It's inevitable'', he remembered. 'And now that I look back on it, she was totally right'. — The New York Times
New York Times
18-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
His Old Books Look Great Beside New Clothes
To run a buzzy men's wear shop in New York these days, it helps to have a few things. Great clothes, of course. Tasteful décor (Noguchi lanterns and ceramic vessels are de rigueur). Friendly, stylish salespeople certainly don't hurt. Increasingly, a stack of books is also a must. Preferably of rare and elusive provenance, concerning matters of art and design, and, in many cases, provided by a neatly dressed bespectacled man named Geoff Snack. 'Whenever I put books in a retail store, it's like: How can this help people?' Mr. Snack, 40, said one afternoon this spring. 'How can this contribute to the understanding of what this shop is about, what the brands are about?' He was flipping through a pile of books he had sourced for the clothing store and coffee shop Colbo on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Stacked on a small table beside a rack of earth-toned clothing were ones featuring Cindy Sherman's shape-shifting photos, an Ellsworth Kelly catalog and a volume dedicated to the concept of sisterhood. 'It's like the cafe and music we play,' said Eldar Hadad, one of Colbo's owners, as she sold sugar-dusted morning buns. 'It invites you to linger when you have books — you can skim through and you're welcome to stay, read, have a coffee.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hypebeast
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Colbo x Sperry 解構經典「Authentic Original」帆船鞋
紐約知名選物店Colbo宣布與經典鞋履品牌Sperry聯手，重新詮釋了其最具代表性的 Authentic Original 經典帆船鞋。 這款聯名鞋履上個月於巴黎時裝週期間首次亮相，以獨特的解構式設計重新演繹了這款經典之作。鞋身採用了精準的仿舊處理與預洗皮革，營造出自然的復古質感；而皮革大底的設計靈感，則源自 Sperry 在 70 與 80 年代的典藏型號。此外，可踩踏的後跟設計也為日常穿搭提供了更多樣化的造型可能。本次聯名共推出「Weathered Sahara」與「Distressed Taupe」兩款配色，均以奶油般柔軟的皮革，呈現不同層次的棕色調。 Colbo x Sperry 聯名船型鞋在Colbo官網的首波發售中已迅速售罄。然而，目前品牌網站上正提供限量尺寸的預購，預計將於 7 月 18 日開始出貨。 與此同時，Sperry 官方也預計將於 7 月 14 日發售此鞋款，售價為 225 美元起。據雙方官方新聞稿證實，第二次的聯名合作已在籌備中，預計將於今年秋季登場，敬請持續關注後續消息。
Hypebeast
12-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Hypebeast
Colbo Teams Up With Sperry For Two Authentic Original Boat Shoes
Name:Colbo x Sperry Authentic Original Boat ShoeColorways:Weathered Sahara and Distressed TaupeSKUs:TBCMSRP:$225 USDRelease Date:July 14Where to Buy:Sperry New York City's very ownColbohas been making waves within the fashion scene thanks to not only its curated, multi-brand arrangement, but with its in-house line as well. Expanding on its output, it has teamed up withSperryto rework theAuthentic Original Boat Shoe. Presented duringParis Fashion Weeklast month, the collaboration reinterprets the classic boat shoe with a deconstructed build. Precise distressing and pre-washed leather offer a vintage feeling, pairing with a leather outsole inspired by Sperry's archival models from the '70s and '80s. The heel is also collapsible, enabling versatility in styling. Colorway options of 'Weathered Sahara' and 'Distressed Taupe' both see buttery leather highlighted in different shades of brown. The Colbo x Sperry Authentic Original Boat Shoes came and went quickly via Colbo's initial drop. However, limited sizes are now available for pre-order viathe brand's website, offering a shipping date of July 18. Sperry is also scheduled to launch its pairs on July 14 at a starting price of $225 USD. Stay tuned for more updates as the duo's official press release confirms a second collaboration is on the way with a scheduled launch window of this fall.
