At last! After only being available to U.S. customers online, sexy menswear line Ron Dorff has finally opened its first brick and mortar store in the Soho. Founder Claus Lindorff tells The Daily why it was the right time to finally come to the States, what makes the new Broome Street digs so unique, and what’s still to come. Plus! Who’s Ron Dorff?!
What took you so long to open!?
You only get one chance to get it right when you cross “the pond” to the U.S. We wanted to be 100% [sure] that the timing was right. Over the last year, the U.S. has become our biggest online market in the world. New York is the most important city for Ron Dorff—and that’s without having a single store here. It became obvious it was time to move.
What’s the vibe of the store?
We’ve taken over the store next to French designer Isabel Marant at 475 Broome Street in the heart of Soho. The choice of location was pretty obvious, as we want to cater to New Yorkers but also to visitors from all over the U.S. who have Soho as a must-visit neighborhood when in New York. We always try to find a store that is typical for the neighborhood we plan to move into. Our building in Soho is a landmark building from 1875 spanning 5,000 sq ft on two levels. We have kept everything we could from the original interior and worked our store design around it. It will function as our first NYC store but also return center for our online clients throughout the U.S. in order to finally offer easy and free returns. We will also have a showroom for the upcoming collections for press and wholesale clients as people tend to travel less to Paris Fashion Week.
For those unfamiliar with the Ron Dorff brand, fill us in!
Ron Dorff was launched 10 years ago in Paris. Aligning Swedish functionality with French style, Ron Dorff stands for upgrading iconic menswear must-haves of the past whether sportswear, homewear, underwear, or swimwear. The result is perfect pieces with an athletic heritage that perform flawlessly—whether worn at the at the gym, at home, or at work. If you’re looking for over-sized logos and mad colors, you won’t be finding them here!
We hear there isn’t an actual Ron Dorff. How did the name come about?
We were two co-founders and we took the end of each of our surnames. That gave us Ron Dorff. My partner at the time was from Paris and I was from Stockholm, hence Paris-Stockholm in the logo. As we say, Swedish design is functional and qualitative like a Volvo but not very sexy, just like a Volvo! So adding a bit of French sexiness gave the brand the perfect, unexpected mix.
What are your best-selling pieces?
In the U.S. it is by far our swimwear, underwear, and pure sports cashmere.
Do you see any other differences in what your customer is looking for in the States, versus your European customers?
Our U.S. clients are the typical HENRYs: High-Earners Not Rich Yet! They’re urban, online friendly, and into sports and health. They are far less interested in bargains than our European customers and they are ready to pay the price on the tag as long as the quality and the service is there.
Your DAD shirts have become a staple. Why do you think these resonate with your customers?
Anyone can be a DAD, and as we said in the campaign: Super DAD, Soccer DAD, or Sugar DAD, what kind of DAD are you? I think it says it all!
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Do you have plans to open more stores in the US?
Yes, we’re planning to open our second store in L.A. in West Hollywood in Spring 2022, followed by a third store in Miami in September 2022. In parallel we will be doing some pop-ups here and there, first out is Provincetown next summer.
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