Reformation
Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Type of Place: Women's Clothing
Description:
The Reformation is named after both Martin Luther’s Reformation and the idea of reformation itself. The store’s designers’ forte is unearthing outdated vintage wear and repurposing it in their backroom workshop. With its founding location in Los Angeles, the brand has acquired a bi-coastal, almost cult-like following of fans affectionately nicknamed “Ref babies”. The Reformation is one of a few environmentally-sustainable boutiques that I know of; one can shop there to feed a fashion addiction and nourish Mother Earth at the same time. While they’ve got two locations in NYC - one in Soho, another on the Lower East Side - this review focuses on the SoHo shop, the newest of all three shops.
The eco-friendly fashion movement manifests itself into birchwood, which the shop is almost entirely composed of, and designer, energy-saving lighting by Plumen. Reformation boasts huge windows, too, allowing natural light to seep up the space and lend it an overall organic feel. Its owners, Yael Aflalo and Chi Bui not only revamp vintage goodies but design a series of originals as well like loose-fitting pocket tanks made from deadstock fabrics they find along their scavenger hunts. Their thrifting includes hitting flea markets, estate sales and such in order to reign in items like jewelry, shoes, and belts for refurbishing and selling with most of these items carrying price tags of $250 and under.
I am a sucker when it comes to jumpsuits and this shop carries a massive line of them. My favorite, the Oliver, $218, backless and featuring a high neck with criss-cross spaghetti strap detailing and cigarette-slim pants, is made of black surplus rayon blend fabric. I also love their tops. Each is more cozy than the next, and many are also crafted from surplus rayon including the Rob Tee, an uber-soft and loose-fitting black long sleeve T with a slight scoopneck which I bought for $68. I spotted no T for more than $150. One more item I have to mention is their Killer Bee bracelet ($120). So edgy it stings, this piece features a wrist-clutching killer bee with its wings spread and is made of brass hand-reworked for a slightly aged finish.
Aflalo opened the SoHo space with an especially underlined effort to create the point at which superior design and sustainability meet. She and her partner along with the Reformation team stand out from other designers in many ways, one being that they create pieces based on what they would wear themselves as opposed to what might look great on the catwalk. Thus, following seasonal trends they do not. Around the time of her SoHo opening, Aflalo told Marie Curie magazine, “…I think runway style can be a little fussy—so I'm inspired by what I see girls wearing on the street."
Reformation
156 Ludlow St
Rivington St & Stanton St
New York, NY 10002
(646) 448-4925
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