GOING ONCE: The fashion director, stylist and Nicopanda founder Nicola Formichetti has his share of fans and thousands are expected at this weekend’s three-day pop-up sale.
More than 5,000 items, including many from his personal belongings, will be sold in what is supposed to look like a punk mini-mall at Nicopanda’s store at 50 White Street in Manhattan. The fun house-type set-up will have rooms with different themes such as a library with archival books and magazines, another will be a Nicopanda World with many Nicopanda sculptures including life-size metallic pandas and octopuses to offset the collection. Formichetti plans to be in TriBeCa all three days this weekend, and he will be DJing Saturday. In addition to the hired security, organizers plan to manage the crowd control by only allowing 10 people in at one time.
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From noon until 6 p.m. each day, shoppers will find numerous personal belongings including Formichetti’s art, sculpture, objects, rare books and such remnants from his celebrity styling as tour performance pieces. Lady Gaga is his best-known client. There will also be clothing from his personal wardrobe including items from Diesel — where he serves as creative director — and Mugler — where he worked as artistic director — and other designers. Naturally, there will be stock from Nicopanda, too. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the American Refugee Committee. Vocal about his borderless view of the world, the Italian-Japanese Formichetti used his amoeba panda print for Nicopanda’s “Love Beyond Borders” for a Lower East Side mural that was made possible with help from MAC Cosmetics and The New Allen art foundation.
Zacharri Lobo, digital and marketing director for Nicopanda, said, “It started as we were thinking about doing a Nicopanda sample sale, just for Nicopanda. I would say he has a bigger following than the brand so we said, ‘Maybe we can incorporate you into the sale?’ And he said, ‘Actually, I’ve wanted to do a spring cleaning for so long. I would like to donate the proceeds to charity and just sell a lot of my stuff — clear out my house.”
Having produced pop-up shops for Hood by Air’s Shayne Oliver in the past for thousands of customers, Lobo is hopeful that his first one with Formichetti will match that. Once this weekend’s spring cleaning is done and dusted, the designer will be gearing up for an April 24 show in Mexico. To highlight his “Love Beyond Borders” message, Formichetti and Nicopanda plan to celebrate the dynamic art, fashion, dance, and music culture of Mexico City. Led by his creative vision, the brand “will partner with local talent on all aspects of this exciting project- shining a spotlight on the richness of culture and talent of one of Nicopanda’s favorite cities on the planet.” a company spokeswoman said.