REINVIGORATED BRAND PACKED WITH STYLISH SEPARATES AT POPULAR PRICES
Mix and Match, Dress up/ Dress down!
Text, Images J. Ecochard
April 30th, Mid-Town Manhattan
Spring and Mercer Streets is a hip intersection in NYC’s SOHO that’s typically jammin’ with hipsters, free-spending tourists, trendy parental units, and a few artists lucky enough to have scored a humongous loft in one of the historic iron cast buildings that line the district’s streets.
But we predict that Spring + Mercer- the brand- is well on its way to establishing its own strong identity…so consumers will first think of this modern, wearable clothing line before sparking up a light bulb afterthought of…”oh, that’s what it’s named for.”
It’s always a treat to see what the visionary Patrick Groenendaal (Hampshire Group’s Creative Director) is up to. And no surprise to us, the Spring + Mercer design team delivered a well- conceived line of knits, mini dresses, and tunics fabricated in soft wool and cotton blends, and silky smooth jersey poly/rayon combos.
In fact, practically every word out of our mouth for each of the key 12 looks was “this is what every women is wearing…how chic…this is idiot-proof pizzazz.”
INSPIRATION:
Taking tonal cues from “the island of Manhattan” Groenendaal sources “downtown for the edgy urban colors of charcoal black, and granite heather (a smokey purple/gray)…and an uptown, Central Park palette of spruce green (our fav), woodland brown, and orange spice.
CUTS:
The full collection of separates can be deftly paired with skinny jeans or leggings (comfortable chic) or punched up with refined accessories for a glam night out. In particular, the elegantly draped sweater spun with a fine woven gold lurex yarn has “subtle bling…is Neo Chanel…and looks great with a racer back tee and velvet pants.”
DETAILS:
Well-placed usable pockets, pin tucked pleats -in a short sleeve rhinestone dress, a 60’s Jean Seberg’ish back button tunic, a waist defining chunky ribbed, textural jacquard jumper dotted in black/white/gray,
an Audrey Hepburn “Charade” thick knit swing sweater with a funnel collared, two button closure, and brass vintage crystals on a midnight black sweater- are eye-catching standouts.
Naturally, we begged to walk out with the square neck printed jersey number-as that seems to be the uniform (with leggings) of all the gals we worked with at this year’s fab Tribeca Film Fest-from tip top directors on down to the production assistants.
And what’s great about Spring + Mercer…is that the entire staff can afford it at full retail prices (from $58-$108).
Ship dates are August 2008…and will be widely available at Macy’s.
