Helena Christensen's Butik

[helena]

CHEZ HELENA

HELENA CHRISTENSEN is all set to launch into the world of retail later this week. The Danish supermodel will open the doors of her new store, Butik, in a former bar on Hudson Street, New York, in three days time. Reflecting her eclectic fashion tastes, she says it will be the place to find "everything strange and weird and wonderful and aesthetic and antique and new". Having worn some of the most beautiful and expensive clothes in the world throughout her career, Helena does not intend this new venture to be restricted to the fashion elite. "We're just trying to show how you can wear things differently," goes on Helena, who plans to sell designs by the likes of Camilla Staerk as well as clothes that she and her business partner, floral designer Leif Sigersen, plan to design. "Because we dress every day, it's fun not to be so serious." Now that she's buying for the shop, the model and photographer says her frequent world travels will give her a sense of purpose. "I've never really settled anywhere," she tells WWD. "I'm going to keep travelling. I live like a gypsy."

 

[softgrey]

woah!!...
can't believe that...what a surprise!!...
there have been an absurd number of stores to open here in recent years...
but i guess and absurd number also closed after 9/11...so maybe it will balance out...

i don't know....it just seems like a lot to me......
funny she would do this in ny...she's not very 'ny'....imho...
i owuld have imagined london...but maybe she doesn't want to compete with all her friends there...hmm....

thanks for the info helena...i will have to check it out i guess...

 

[PrinceOfCats]

'Butik'?

 

[OlgaKorbut]

'Butik'?

Butik = Store, boutique in Danish.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

Butik = Store, boutique in Danish.

It all makes sense

 

[kimair]

here's a pic of the store from wwd

About 50 percent of the apparel in the store is vintage and the new product has some of the same qualities. “It has to have the feeling of something different or of another time,” she said.

For example, a jacket by Rutzou with a self belt covered in a handful of buttons and a fabric flower near the lapel is made of material designed to look old. Rutzou’s designer also throws vintage fabric into the mix.

Capelets from Baum und Pferdgarten, a popular brand based in Copenhagen, look like something an old-fashioned doll would wear. More modern are Iven Hoj’s finely knit sweaters, Camilla Staerk’s black silk dresses and Norgaard Paa Stroget’s simple maritime shirts for men and women.

Accessories are as unusual as the clothes. Staerk makes sandals from leather and finely knit fiber, necklaces by Veronica Civa are made of wooden beads ordered in colors to match outfits in the shop and belts from Bark in Denmark come in red, white or blue decorated with Danish flags. There are also bags from Peru in honor of Christensen’s Peruvian mother, who was at the store asking visitors how they liked it so far.

Jewelry will range from flea-market finds to serious pieces, such as 18-karat gold rings with coral and diamonds. Prices will range from a few dollars for a beaded flower to $3,200 for a circa 1880 gold-painted wood display case built for a woman who collected bouquet holders. Candles, soaps, perfumes and chocolate from Summer Bird, a small organic Danish factory, round out the offerings.

 

[helena]

thanks kimair. it looks like a shop i know in edinburgh!

 

[Tinuviel]

Very cool! I like Helena's style.

 

[softgrey]

thanks kimair...i guess i'll try to find it this weekend...
i'll report back once i check it out...

 

[Tinetush]

'Butik'?

 

[Hanne]

thanks kimair...i guess i'll try to find it this weekend...
i'll report back once i check it out...

How was it Softie ?

A less interesting picture from the store:

 

[softgrey]

oh...i forgot all about this...
dang...i miss having faust around to go and check these things out with...

bakla...you around?...any interest?...
probably not..it's only women's right?...ahhh...

i'll hit it the next time i'm heading over to century 21...
actually...maybe i can meet faust for lunch down there...

faust.........where are yoooouuuuuu......!!!....!!!.......

 

[faust]

oh...i forgot all about this...
dang...i miss having faust around to go and check these things out with...

bakla...you around?...any interest?...
probably not..it's only women's right?...ahhh...

i'll hit it the next time i'm heading over to century 21...
actually...maybe i can meet faust for lunch down there...

faust.........where are yoooouuuuuu......!!!....!!!.......

Here, here

Yea, that would've been walking distance from my previous office, wouldn't it? I doubt it'll be anything interesting though. Another Steven Alan type boutique at best. But I can definitely see a pedestrian shopping route being established from the meatsmelling district to the west village via hudson/bleecker streets.

Century21, yay! All the stuff is on sale, tons of Chalayn, let's go! I'll be on Wall St. all next week.

 

[Spacemiu]

Sounds intresting, I like the concept

 

[adorefaith]

softie, did you ever end up going?....
i really like helena's personal style....a cute funky mix of old + new....

any reviews of the shop?...
i'm not so keen on the yellow picture....
but the other one looks a bit more like what i had imagined....

i wonder if the shop is doing well?....i'd really love to be able to go and check it out....

 

[Zarina]

I have just been there, but I wasn't impressed. She sells the Danish designers who are great, but the selection is very small. The vintage stuff sucks. It is in poor condition and quite expensive.

 

[nogoodforme]

^ i have to agree with Zarina above. the selection is small, the vintage stuff is way too much money. some cute little trinkets and such, though.