Last night the gentlemen from Odin and Duckie Brown held a small cocktail party to toast their new collaborative men’s line Edward. The capsule collection, which was on display at the gathering, is a desirable mix of goods that would fit any modern man’s wardrobe. From the fatigue green waxed M-65 jacket to the woven shirts with their micro-collars (as Eddy Chai described them), Edward is firing on all cylinders. And the best part about the modest 17 piece collection is the value for money. Nothing in the Edward range retails for over 500 bucks and all of it is made in America. So tell me, who can’t use a new pea coat for fall, or a nice tweed sport coat? And anything military inspired in waxed canvas just goes without saying. The good news is you won’t have to wait five months to get this stuff, actually you won’t even have to wait until the announced November 1st drop. Our sources tell us the line will be in Odin stores this coming weekend. If you head by look for us, we’ll be in line.

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The third Rag & Bone store on Mercer Street is an airy space with high ceilings and a refined industrial feel. At first glance it looks like the other shops on the retail-friendly cobblestone block, but when you get in there and really look closely you will notice well thought out detailing that makes the space special. The lighting looks like something that came out of an old GM factory (or old New York workspace), the rolling racks were treated with acid to give them a nice patina and all of the furniture in the entire space was custom made for Rag & Bone. One specific piece, a massive floor to ceiling mirror framed in welded steel, serves to boggle your clothing focused mind. One other favorite detail was the Rag & Bone embossed buttons that dot the beautiful gray Chesterfield ottoman that is positioned in the rear of the store under slanted metal and glass windows, a light source that are functional hold overs from the building’s days as a dim warehouse. With the new Mercer space the Rag & Bone folks have walked a fine line between having a functional, beautiful and well branded space — something you don’t see everyday.

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Philadelphia… a city known for its notorious sports fans and a certain delicacy known as the cheesesteak. Last year entrepreneur Steve Grasse, the man behind Gyro Mart and Root liquor, injected a little a dose of welcomed style into the city with his shop Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. (And yes the name is inspired by the Walter Benjamin essay.) Whether you’re searching for the newest Billykirk piece, new scents from CB I Hate Perfume or tobacco for your prized briar pipe, this shop has you covered. Nestled in Old City, this perfectly curated store brings a refreshing mix previously one might have needed to take the trip up to SoHo for. Art in the Age also has monthly art shows curated by another Philly staple, Space 1026. Product can be ordered form their online store, but you’d be doing yourself a favor by taking the walk down N. 3rd and stopping by for a visit.—SEAN SULLIVAN

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The folks from J.Crew were kind enough to invite me over to check out the new men’s store at 484 Broadway in NYC. The shop, which used to be a newsstand, is a perfect mix between a normal J.Crew store and the more directional J.Crew Liquor Shop that opened last year. So basically, there are special items like Superior Labor tote bags, Alden shoes, staplers, Mister Freedom clothing and all of the basics that you have come to expect from J.Crew. A good combination if you ask me.

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The folks over at Steven Alan asked me if I would come by their shop and pick out five of my favorite things (a virtual wish list if you will) for their Journal (that’s fancy way of saying blog). Since Steven Alan is one of my favorite stores of all time, I quickly agreed. Things did get a little strange when I started walking out of the TriBeCa location with all of my picks. Apparently they wanted me to pay for the five things. Can you believe that?!? Only kidding. You can see my little list of Steven Alan goodness here.

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Prior to coming to Japan I thought New York was the best shopping city in the world. Talk about epic misconceptions. Tokyo has some of the coolest stores I have ever seen. I spent the better part of today wandering around Shibuya, Shinjuku and Harajuku. What I saw was just the tip of the iceberg. The highlights were Tomorrowland, United Arrows, the Journal Standard shops (Furniture, JS Homestead), Prada in Aoyama and my favorite Tokyu Hands. Some store photos (in the craze of things I didn’t shoot every store) from day one are below.

Prada glass block store in Aoyama.

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The new Design Within Reach Tools for Living store opened today on Wooster Street in SoHo. Since my office is a few short blocks away, I decided to check it out at lunch. The purpose of the mission was actually get a flask that I saw the previous day on 10engines. You see, the flask wasn’t available online at the time and when I called DWR they said, “the new Tools for Living store, which opens tomorrow, will have this in stock.” Perfect. Upon arrival to the neatly organized bi-level shop, my jaw hit the newly installed floor. The upper section of the store offers home, kitchen, office goods, so I headed directly to the lower level for the more brutish “tools” section.

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Seth Weisser & Gerard Maione — the gentlemen behind the New York based clothing company What Comes Around Goes Around — know a cool piece of clothing when they see it. When I stopped by the company’s sprawling TriBeCa office a few weeks ago, Seth and Gerard were giddy over a score of vintage Levis XX jeans acquired from real-life ranchers in Colorado. The decades old denim was strewn across the worn wooden floor of the two founders shared private office. “What makes these jeans special is the fact that the leather patches are still intact” said Seth Weisser. “You rarely see them with the patches still on the waistbands. Usually [the patch] will have deteriorated and fallen off from the years of wear,” he added while inspecting the cache of vintage jeans.

A hunting themed selection of vintage clothing from What Comes Around Goes Around.

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The new Steven Alan for Urban Outfitters collection Lark & Wolff — you know the one that isn’t supposed to be available until around July 4th — is currently available at the NoHo Urban Outfitters on Broadway. The collection looks good and I even picked up two button-down shirts for $58 each. The UO people have the preppy offerings merchandised with chinos, skinny ties, Bass Weejuns and other appropriate items. I have to say that I liked the wovens and you could definitely see the Steven Alan touch in everything. The store didn’t seem to have the entire collection, just a small collection of men’s and women’s from what I saw.

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Last week at the Men.Style.com Women of Fashion party I had a chance to catch up with Eddy Chai, one of the owners of the popular men’s store Odin. There are a lot of interesting things happening with Odin and their gallery-esq boutique Den. I found out that this fall, GQ’s favorite label Engineered Garments will be taking over the Den space at 330 East 11th Street. The announcement is exciting news for someone like me that loves 1. classic American things 2. work wear 3. things made in the USA 4. Japan 5. Den. I also heard that Nepenthes (the Engineered Garments Japanese parent company) is launching an entirely new brand under a different name and that the company is introducing an Engineered Garments womens collection in the near future. Sounds like Nepenthes is on a roll. Previous occupants of the Den space have been fashionable brands like Robert Geller, Karen Walker and Cheap Monday.

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Over the weekend I stumbled upon some great pictures of the new RRL store in East Hampton. Ralph Lauren must have decided that it wanted everyone of its brands to have a presence in the Hamptons. First we saw a new Rugby store and now this RRL outpost. The new RRL store looks typical Ralph, which is to say amazing. I love the denim, khakis and the woven shirts. The new store has some great home goods and of course some casual offerings for your relaxing weekends in the Hamptons.

All photos are by Brian Berman —who looks to be a very talented photographer and obviously skilled at capturing interiors. More pictures after the jump.

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The June/July issue of Details sheds some light on the special new J. Crew men’s store in TriBeCa. So far we know that the space —an old liquor store on West Broadway —is spectacular and sort of Edward Hopper-esq. What we learned from the Details article is even more exciting. One of the ACL’s idols Mr. Andy Spade and his new creative firm Partners & Spade, has been retained to add his retail genius into the mix. This makes me think that we could have an American interpretation of Paul Smith on our hands. I can’t wait to get a first hand look at this store and I am excited to be able to finally buy Birdwell Britches in person.

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