Can Thakoon Change How We Shop?
Like their campaign face Taylor Hill, Thakoon's first retail store is stunning. Located in Soho, New York, it's got floor-to-ceiling windows, raw white oak walls, and furniture stamped with the label's trademark prints.
But as they say, it's what's inside that counts, and in this case, it's something unusual: a tight range of new designs available for about a month. You can get the looks at Thakoon's store and website, and once they're gone, that's it-no resurrections for sold-out clothes; no sales racks for the leftovers.
Hours before the boutique opened to the public (and to celebrity fans like Rashida Jones and Diane Kruger), just days before Thakoon Panichgul shows at New York Fashion Week, we met with the designer in his new space.
Your new business model sounds a lot like a small-batch brewery. You make a limited run of clothes, and when they're gone... that's it?
Exactly. We're minimally producing quantities. It'll be on Thakoon.com for a limited time, around four weeks, and when that's over, we're done.
If anything's left after that limited time, will it go on sale?
I'm not really about sales anymore, because it gives the customer a different mindset, one where they sometimes expect [a discount]. We're giving people beautiful clothes and great quality at a great price point, and you have a limited time and a limited quantity. It's engaging the shopper in a different way.
Do you think the old model of 'fast fashion' is on the way out?
No! Listen, there are different ways to shop for different people. For me, it's about the designer's frame of mind, and how we've got to think at a faster pace. Fast fashion communicates to a different audience, to a younger audience. Right now, what I'm aiming to do is something new that works for us and our shoppers.
Graphic prints aren't always seen as investment pieces, but yours are such a hallmark...
And prints can absolutely be investment pieces. I've seen prints from my collections from five years ago on the street now. It's totally possible. If the colors don't age and if the fabric is beautiful, then of course people should wear it year after year. Look at some of the most iconic pieces from Prada and Marni. Every time you pull them out, even if it's five years later, they're still iconic! And then your kids can wear them, and probably style them in a different way. Well-made prints age very well.
You're pushing yourself to deliver collections almost every two weeks. How are you avoiding burnout?
I'm always thinking ahead, and I'm always curious about what's happening next. I thrive on that kind of thinking, so I don't burn out. And I think that's a sign-if you can't stop thinking about your job, in a positive way that energizes you, then you're probably where you're meant to be.
In December, 24 year-old Vivian Chou took a majority stake in your company. What's it like having someone so young steering the label with you?
Listen, she's amazing. She's got such a great head. She knows fashion in a way that a lot of people, young and older, just don't. Obviously, it's her family business. [Editor's Note: Chou is the daughter of Silas Chou, a textile factory maven and an early investor in Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors.] She has an awesome energy, because she's got that business sense and she brings a youthful quality to the brand. She makes me think about Thakoon in a new frame of mind.
Like a Snapchat frame of mind?
We're pretty good on Snapchat, I think! But she's made me more of a sneaker head. I always liked them, but she's made me a bit more fanatic about them.
Does this mean printed high tops are in my future?
Well... [Laughing.]
Besides Vivian, you've got Taylor Hill on Team Thakoon. Did you cast her because of her fashion background, or her social media stardom?
I cast Taylor because she's got this American spirit that's really amazing. And she's a nice girl from Colorado! You know girls like her from school. You want to be friends with her. But I didn't cast her from Instagram... I screen-tested her in Paris, because when we work with a model, it's usually for more than one season. It's a relationship. It's about a girl's personality and charisma, too. And Taylor has all that, so we booked her to be part of our brand right before she started having her big Internet moment. But it was obvious she would, you know? She's so fun.
Does she get along with your dog, Stevie?
[Laughing] Stevie loves everyone, especially people with great hair.
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