BlackBook Magazine

Sad news for shoppers: The high priestess of cool clothes, Jane Mayle, is closing her shop for good. It was the end of a lease and the accelerating fashion cycle that drove Mayle to close her doors -- not faltering sales. The Mayle store at 242 Elizabeth Street was a huge presence in the Noho shopping area. And it was the burgeoning popularity of Noho that ultimately convinced Mayle to leave.

Who’d have thought you could build an empire in the hopelessly ill-mannered contemporary New York City by reviving the aesthetics of 19th-century gentleman hunters and topping them off with a dollop of good ol’ Southern gentility? But Taavo Somer and Sam Buffa’s Freemans Sporting Club and Freeman's restaurant, indeed, came on the scene like Adolf Loos and Philippe Stark never happened, and became de facto hipster stomping grounds. Now they takes their act West, with FSC Barber opening this week on a charming corner of Horatio Street.

Attention Los Angelenos! Don't worry if you were unable to make it to Milan. Milan will soon come to you! Famed fashion house Missoni announced it will expand its presence in the United States and is planning to open a flagship store in Los Angeles. The new West Coast store will be located on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and North Rodeo Drive, smack dab next door to Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren. (Missoni's only other shop In the United States is on New York's Madison Avenue.) For the store interiors, Missoni has tapped Patrick Kinmonth, the designer and author best known in fashion circles for having orchestrated Valentino's 45th-anniversary retrospective at the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome, Italy.

The NY Post is reporting that The Abu Dhabi investment group is negotiating to buy a 75% stake in Manhattan’s famed Chrysler Building, causing us some rather hectic last-minute Father’s Day shopping. We thought we had the building wrapped and ready for Sunday’s big day, but then these rich oil barons came out of nowhere—sheiks, princes, kings, it was terrifying—and kerplunked an $800 million dollar offer on the table. We’ve got money, but we don’t have oil money. Our poor Deco-loving dad, who we promised a real sexy gift this year, will have to settle for aftershave, yet again.

Next month, the corner of Melrose Place will be introduced to its latest co-star: the 3100 square-foot Alexander McQueen flagship, designed by Will Russell of Pentagram. In addition to high ceilings, curved walls, and floors made from mother of pearl, the store boasts a nine-foot metal sculpture by Brit artist Robert Bryce Muir called Angels of the Americas. (In the City of Angels—boom!) Says McQueen, “I am excited about… being more accessible to a community that will clearly understand and appreciate the glamour in my work.” Rendition of the store exterior after the jump.

Kiwi Karen gets 'Lucky' with a revamped Den in the East Village.

A postmodern retail concept if ever, chameleon-esque East Village shop Den (330 East 11th Street, New York) has adopted young New Zealand designer Karen Walker as its next honoree, of sorts. It will, as it has in the past, be completely fitted out as a shop dedicated to the exalted (by everyone from Madonna to Björk) designer’s vision. Her spring ’08 collection, appropriately titled “Lucky,” will of course feature her much sought-after denim selections, as well as hip floral tea dresses, for those who prefer femininity to austerity.

Smoothmed founder Dr. Andrew Elkwood changes faces for a living, and now he’ll attempt his most ambitious nip/tuck yet—changing the face of plastic surgery. The doctor will see you now.

By Nick Haramis

Inside Smoothmed clinic, above.

This summer, around the corner from Bloomingdale’s, a new storefront overtook East 59th Street, and immediately, the Manhattan neighborhood looked more relaxed, youthful even. Smoothmed, the brainchild or Dr. Andrew Elkwood and his partner Dr. Michael Rose, is not unlike the convenience of, say, “McDonald’s or a quick oil change,” Elkwood explains. The first Botox clinic of its kind in the world—no appointment necessary!—Smoothmed might just be the next step in the evolution of constructed beauty.

BLACKBOOK: Had you noticed a demand for this?

DR. ANDREW ELKWOOD: In my own practice, nurses would always tap me on the shoulder, saying, “Mrs. Jones is here, can you fit her in?” But we were mixing short, quick things with longer procedures. Sometimes you just want to go in for an oil change, so they came up with Quick Lube. I shouldn’t use analogies like this. We had a little episode with heroin—wait, that didn’t come out right—a heroin comment.

Fashion victim Lambertson Truex loses boots, L.A. reels.

A dramatization—albeit quite a terrible one—of the menace on Melrose.

L.A.’s embryonic retail dream, Melrose Place, has turned into something of a nightmare. The (sort of) new home to Marni, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Diesel, and Marc Jacobs had its first robbery last week. Lambertson Truex, which opened in May, had its front windows smashed at night, and $250,000 worth of leather merchandise pinched—shoes, bags, and, (gasp!) boots—just as the fall season gets underway.

But rest assured—things are looking up in another corner of Melrose. Chloé is coming to town. Young Hollywood’s it-brand (cute, girly frocks with very womanly price tags) just took possession of one of the street’s last plots. Meanwhile, Ports 1961, Monique Lhuillier, and Catherine Malandrino are all opening there this fall. Martin Margiela will open on Little Santa Monica Boulevard on September 5th. Is there a lesson to be learned in all of this confusion? Score your balaclava and getaway ride while the iron’s still hot! —Merle Ginsberg

Vintage minister Christophe Loiron loathes the L.A. look. His store Mr. Freedom is here to help.

By Ray Rogers
Photography by Sye Williams

Hidden in plain sight on Beverly Boulevard, Mr. Freedom is the go-to guy for stylists and designers looking for exclusive vintage wares. There’s no neon sign outside, but tastemakers—and the likes of Winona Ryder—find their way there, drawn in droves by shop owner, designer Christophe Loiron’s impeccable eye. “A lot of stores have huge windows with a beautiful display you see from outside. Then, when you get in, it’s like, Boring!” says French import Loiron, surveying his cavernous showroom, equal parts Steve McQueen cool, Pop Art playful, and flea-market funky. “I’m trying to do the opposite: small doors, warehouse-looking building. But when you come in, it’s where it’s at.” The vagabond British artist Banksy must think so too. He left his graffitied mark on the façade one eve, upping Mr. Freedom’s cool factor through the warehouse roof.

Full interview, after the jump...

Vintage minister Christophe Loiron loathes the L.A. look. His store Mr. Freedom is here to help.

By Ray Rogers

Hidden in plain sight on Beverly Boulevard, Mr. Freedom is the go-to guy for stylists and designers looking for exclusive vintage wares. There’s no neon sign outside, but tastemakers—and the likes of Winona Ryder—find their way there, drawn in droves by shop owner, designer Christophe Loiron’s impeccable eye. “A lot of stores have huge windows with a beautiful display you see from outside. Then, when you get in, it’s like, Boring!” says French import Loiron, surveying his cavernous showroom, equal parts Steve McQueen cool, Pop Art playful, and flea-market funky. “I’m trying to do the opposite: small doors, warehouse-looking building. But when you come in, it’s where it’s at.” The vagabond British artist Banksy must think so too. He left his graffitied mark on the façade one eve, upping Mr. Freedom’s cool factor through the warehouse roof.