In July, the first edition of Retail Lab—the CFDA’s pop-up initiative for select designers—opened its doors to the public at Cadillac House in NYC, and kicked off the initiative with Timo Weiland. Home to exclusive merchandise, ranging from eyewear to table top items and see-now, buy-now pieces from the New York Fashion Week: Men’s collection to merch for women, Weiland’s pop-up is a destination for not just fashion, but lifestyle, too. Naturally, we had to check out the new digs and get the scoop on the project from the designer himself.
When did your pop-up officially open?
July 15, and we’re open until the end of September! We’re experimenting with all sorts of new categories, like tableware with Vista Alegre. Some of the pieces we have are actually archive Christian Lacroix. The reason we selected them is because we collect taxidermy butterflies, so it went with our aesthetic. The other pieces are one’s we’ve worked on, which are midcentury and more minimal. We also have our eyewear partnership with Zenni Optical at the store, which is our first foray into eyewear. I’m a sunglass fanatic, constantly collecting and wearing and just getting more and more.
Tell us about what we’ll find from your collection.
Currently we have our late summer/early fall collection, so it’s very “wear-now.” For now, you can only buy these pieces here. I was inspired by midcentury décor, the idea of a weekend escape from the city, and The Glass House Gala that I DJ’d—that gig was at the beginning of our design process for this collection. You’ll see lots of clean lines and minimal, beautiful textures. The prints that are incorporated are very impactful, like the abstract geometric florals and color pop trims we have throughout.
What has the customer response been?
We’ve had a phenomenal response. The foot traffic from different companies that are based here and being able to really connect face-to-face with the customer is great.
How often are you in the store?
Almost seven days a week, at least part of the day, if not most of. At least one of the co-founders is here every day, and sometimes it’s two of us. We love it, and it’s been great to be discovered by people who don’t know us already.
Could you see yourself opening a permanent store?
Definitely! Within the year, and in Brooklyn, for sure. It’s where we’re based, and is also just more “us.” We just have so many customers there, and people love visiting us.
What else have you been up to this summer?
I’m trying to be at the beach a little bit. I’m going down to work on this “to be announced” project, which I can’t talk about yet, in the South in the next week. We’re just rockin’ and rollin’ and DJ’ing as much as we can. The music thing has really been a huge inspiration—it always is!
Photography: Drew Levin
