The North Face has long been revered among devotees of hip-hop style, while Patagonia has, in the more recent past, expanded its audience to include urban hipsters. Now, with interest in outdoor sports, and nature in general, as great as ever, a number of fledgling indie men’s sportswear brands are reimagining traditional mountain gear with a more fashion-forward sensibility.
Topo Designs: Colorado-based Topo Designs launched last spring, but its story goes back decades. The brand’s three founding partners grew up in the mountains of the West, where they developed a lifelong love of the grandiosity of the Rockies, and the varied activities that they afford. Bored with the strictly functional gear typically stocked at the REI- and EMS-type retailers of the US, they found themselves hunting down specialty wares from Europe and Asia. Ultimately, they decided to develop a line to bring their own carefully honed brand of Rocky Mountain High to likeminded hikers, climbers, and campers. The resulting collection of bags and accessories is equal parts retro, rugged and refined.
A recent rise in appreciation of street art – as seen in film, in art books, and even on museum walls – has encouraged connoisseurs to seek worthwhile works outside of traditional galleries and exhibitions. Because few are likely to stumble upon an authentic Banksy mural in their everyday life, a crop of new apps has emerged to help users uncover works of public art in their respective cities.
Street Art London: With the Summer Olympics mere months away, London is finalizing preparations for an impending influx of athletes, tourists, and press. For summer travelers who seek a diversion outside of the stadiums, the Street Art London app for iPhone offers a comprehensive map of the metropolis’s vibrant outdoor art scene. This virtual guide features more than 280 urban art installations, including works by renowned graffiti artists like Banksy, Obey, Pablo Delgado, and Eine. The app’s Map Mode, which uses GPS functionality to plot and track users’ locations in relation to street art sites, is sure to prove particularly useful among visitors who are unfamiliar with the Tube.
With springtime officially upon us, many are feeling inspired to leave the dark days of gym exercise behind them and head outdoors. But instead of replacing a monotonous treadmill with a repetitive daily jog, people are spicing up their routines and letting their creativity flourish by making art as they run.
The Color Run: Participants of The Color Run begin their 5k race in plain white attire, but leave resembling a tie-dyed canvas. As runners/walkers pass each kilometer’s “Color Run Zone,” they become immersed in a new chalky paint cloud of highlighter yellow, neon green, Caribbean blue, hot pink and a celebratory “Color Extravaganza” finish line. Less about competition and more a celebration of hues, the national touring event encourages runners of all levels to partake in the festivities. And if a day of exercise and florescent paint doesn’t sound like enough fun on its own, The Color Run ends with a huge dance party of what resembles a troupe of human Jackson Pollock paintings.
With ramen and tacos now considered haute cuisine, oft-disparaged Jewish classics—from gefilte fish to matzo ball soup—are getting a revival of their own. A new generation of foodies in New York City is fine-tuning the foods bubbe once made, giving progressive diners new reasons to declare “L’chayim!”
Kutsher’s Tribeca: Kutsher’s Tribeca, the latest venture from Jeffrey Chodorow (Asia de Cuba), puts a high-end spin on deli classics. Instead of kasha dotting the varnishkes, there’s quinoa; celery soda is made in-house rather than coming from a can; roast chicken is brined in a soy sauce marinade; and the gefilte fish is actually wild halibut. The space reflects this straddling of time and place—it’s part ’60s retro, part sleek Scandinavian—but it seems that eaters don’t mind the update. Despite its downtown address, the restaurant isn’t serving matzo ball soup with a spoonful of irony—the restaurant is owned by Zach Kutsher, whose family runs the iconic eponymous Catskills resort.
Aside from the obvious, like the current state of the real estate market, brick-and-mortar stores are facing a number of challenges lately. For one, customer service expectations are shifting, as shoppers have become accustomed to more independent modes of consumerism online. Needless to say, it takes guts to open up shop these days, yet these three retail projects may be trailblazing new ways to make the cash register sing.
Openspace: Having opened at a time when entertainment media is increasingly moving into the cloud, a physical store that sells intangible items may seem counterintuitive. But at least one entrepreneur is hedging his bets on the fact that it’s a business model for the new era. Robert Reich’s Openspace, a downtown Boulder, Colorado store that opened its doors in December, sells…apps? The cornerstone of the shop is its “App Gurus,” a team of expert staffers, similar to Apple store Geniuses, intended to educate and aid shoppers who typically have difficulty navigating cyber stores. It’s a bold move, but one that already has franchise offers on the table.
