Sandro has closed its location at 150 Spring Street in Manhattan’s SoHo and taken up a yearlong residence at 79 Greene Street, a 2,400-square-foot space where men’s and women’s products are sold and new ideas for products, events and services are honed in anticipation of the brand’s new flagship, which will open in 2019.
The French brand vacated Spring Street for larger environs, and the pop-up shop is a stop along the way. Vornado Realty Trust, which is marketing the Spring Street address, lists 1,286 to 1,358 square feet of available retail space in the building. According to real estate sources, London-based contemporary brand Whistles is negotiating for the location. Whistles in the U.S. is sold at 16 Bloomingdale’s stores, including the 59th Street flagship in New York.
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“It will be a major milestone for our brand globally. It will house both Sandro and Sandro Homme,” said Evelyne Chetrite, founder and artistic director of Sandro Femme, of the SoHo flagship. “The 79 Greene Street location presents an exciting opportunity for us to create a cool concept space in SoHo.”
Part of the cool concept Chetrite imagined is “incorporating vintage furniture and important pieces from our favorite designers. My son Ilan and I love vintage pieces, and vintage references are a huge inspiration for the design of our collections each season. Working this into this special pop-up concept was exciting for us.”
The influence of Ilan Chetrite, who in 2007 introduced men’s wear to Sandro, the brand founded by his parents, seems to be growing. The men’s collection has expanded from three stores to 213 worldwide points of sale. Sandro and its sister brand Maje, which happens to be designed by Chetrite’s sister, Judith Milgrom, along with Claudie Pierlot, a brand acquired by parent company SMCP, did $1.06 billion in sales in 2017. As of December 2017, there were 1,332 points of sale in 38 countries.
Ilan Chetrite has said that men’s wear is becoming and will continue to become more important to Sandro and that his goal is to create a multigender brand, the likes of which doesn’t exist in his native France. The younger Chetrite’s collection is geared toward a nonconformist, albeit one who insists on precisely cut and fitted suits, updated vintage styles, oversize long coats and pieces that pop to brighten up the wardrobe.
In addition to the vintage offering, Sandro collaborated with Helly Hansen for an exclusive men’s capsule dropping Sept. 11. “The Helly Hansen collaboration was a chance to mix Ilan’s love for performance and streetwear with the minimalist aesthetic of Sandro Homme,” Chetrite said. “Helly Hansen is an iconic Norwegian brand that came to prominence in the Nineties through hip-hop artists. The nod to this era resonates with Sandro Homme and inspired a capsule collection of knits, outerwear and accessories. Ilan is very informed when it comes to deciding what brands to collaborate with that speak to the heart of Sandro’s DNA.”
Another hookup, with “The Muppet Show,” will drop on Sept. 25 and features women’s and children’s apparel with characters such as Kermit the Frog.
“‘The Muppet Show’ collaboration provides a fun opportunity to create a playful and nostalgic collection for women with an iconic character, Kermit the Frog,” Chetrite said. “I was especially excited to work with the Muppets and design Sandro’s first ever children’s capsule. We’re creating a mommy and me moment.”
The children’s component of the collection will be available for 5- to-10-year-olds, and will include cashmere hoodies, jogger pants, knit sweaters and rugby jerseys.
“Some of my favorite pieces from the collection are the vintage jeans, knits with images of Kermit and our iconic flame sneakers that were re-imagined in electric greens,” Chetrite said.
The pop-up will host performances and events to celebrate the collaborations and Sandro’s fall/winter 2018 collection, including the holiday season. Chetrite cited a musical performance by a French musician and Muppets-themed personalization events. There will be styling opportunities hosted by influencers and bloggers and “continuous animations to drive traffic as new deliveries are dropped every two weeks,” Chetrite said.
Sandro is expanding its approach to services, with one-on-one appointment booking, tailoring, same-day delivery and gift-wrapping. Chetrite said that while Sandro has strong loyalty and VIP programs for top customers, the rewards are activated only during certain major shopping periods or brand milestones.
“We haven’t offered all of these services for an extended period of time, or all at once at a specific location,” she said. “They’ve only been available for one-off events or activations. Now our customers can enjoy these luxury services throughout the duration of the pop-up.”