There is very little information available from Gilt–meaning no press release, no blog post–so I’m unsure as to whether or not other designers from the issue will also be featured or if the clothing will be discounted. (I have a feeling that if it is, it won’t be by much. Don’t expect 70% off in-season merchandise here.)

I’ve contacted Gilt and hopefully they can answer my questions. I’ll get back to you soonest.

Update:

The sale is filled with non-discounted items from several labels, including Dooney & Bourke, Giles & Brother and the aforementioned See By Chloe.

The model is doing a lot of Vogue spread-inspired poses.

Gilt is using Vogue’s new feature Steal of the Month as the centerpiece for each sale. That’s a good idea, as long as the designers involved are okay with selling his/her new goods on Gilt.

This biggest news here? Gilt has moved into full-price retail. Yes, it’s still a flash sale, but without the discount, what’s the point?  Gilt execs say that traditional retailers don’t understand the flash sale model. Will they be able to duplicate its success while charging full price?

Between those two experiences, I’ve worked at Hallmark, the Gap, a now-shuttered store in Williamsburg called Landing (R.I.P., I still miss you!), and even Victoria’s Secret (although I quit that job one month in as I couldn’t take the pressure of selling people credit cards that they didn’t want). In general, I really loved working retail. I like selling products that I actually believe in. Although I always knew I wanted to be a fashion writer, owning my own shop is still a pipe dream. I think that’s why I was drawn to the business side of fashion in my journalistic endeavors.

Anyway, my point is: I think I have a pretty good handle on what excellent customer service means. And these days, most mass retailers–heck, retailers in general–aren’t cutting it. I’m not saying it’s not hard. Uniqlo, for example, has an excellent product. But the staff at its New York City SoHo store knows jack about what’s available, what’s not, and when certain items will arrive. (A lot of this has to do with the fact that they’re not paid much, which means it’s a transient position.) If you ask for a specific type of denim, they return your inquiry with a blank stare. Of course, I still shop at Uniqlo because I know quite a bit about the company and the product–I can overlook their ignorance. I don’t need them. However, I’m not a “typical” consumer. If my Aunt Barb, an accountant from Pittsburgh, walked into Uniqlo and they weren’t able to help her find jeans that were long enough to accommodate her sky-high legs, she’d simply leave and high-tail it to J.Crew, where the salespeople show real love and appreciation for their workplace and the products their shilling.

Spending the last week on the West Coast got me thinking about the importance of customer service. While I hate it when salespeople are “too friendly,” nothing makes me happier than coming across someone whose passionate about the brands and products he or she is paid to sell. For example, on Boxing Day, my significant other and I popped into a lovely store on Hayes Street in San Francisco called Nida. I immediately got excited because there were plenty of customers, plenty of my favorite brands–Steven Alan, Isabel Marant–and I heard one shop girl say that everything in the store was half off.

“Everything?!” I exclaimed. “Everything!” She responded.

I noticed a herringbone wool belted coat from Isabel Marant that I had spied at Bird back on Smith Street in Brooklyn. A salesperson named Atsushi came over and complemented my choice, asking if I’d like him to put it in a changing room for me. He also picked up a pair of Etoile trousers that he thought I might like. When I tried the jacket on, he helped me “style” it the way Marant did on the runway. Let me be clear: none of this was obtrusive or offensive. I actually enjoyed the subtle attention. And yes, I bought the coat.

I had similar experiences at Minimal on Hayes Street, Maison Reve in Mill Valley and of course, the Apple store on Chestnut. Apple proves customer service can work on the mass market level–you just need to hire employees that are passionate about the product.

Last night, while researching another story, I looked up Chicago boutique Hejfina, run by the lovely Heiji Choy Black. I’d interviewed Heiji for a piece I did at Forbes about two years ago, and I thought she’d be a good fit for this other story. However, I soon found that Hejfina had closed in September. Why? Heiji said that it was mainly because of the economy. But when I looked up Hejfina on Yelp, I found several angry reviews stating that while the clothes were great, the salespeople were cold and offensive. I thought Heiji was a wonderful person when I chatted with her, but I also understood what the Yelpers were saying. The few times I got a chance to enter the store, Heiji was not there and the salespeople were less-than-friendly. I didn’t buy anything. I do wonder if the poor customer service had something to do with Hejfina’s demise.

While the democratization of fashion may have feathered some ruffles, it–in the end–helped to establish a stronger, more lucrative industry. Here, in the spirit of those top ten lists that I know you love reading, I’ve named the ten moments over the last ten years I that believe changed the business of fashion. Maybe not forever, but at least for now.

2000: H&M Opens in the US
In high school, I read a lot of British magazines. (Yes, I was a bit of an anglophile, watching Are You Being Served when I didn’t have lacrosse practice after school.) I soon understood that while British women were terribly obsessed with fashion, they were also obsessed with not paying exorbitant amounts of money for said fashion. In the pages of British Vogue I discovered H&M, a Swedish retailer that sold clothes rivaling Target in price and Prada in style. By the time I was interning in New York City at a downtown magazine, H&M had arrived on 5th Avenue.

After work I’d take the N up to Rockefeller Center and spend an hour rifling through racks of asymmetrical blouses, wide-leg trousers and colorful plastic baubles.  H&M went on to change American retail, heralding in the concept of fast fashion–clothing that is made cheaply, stylishly and above all, quickly. Soon enough, European favorites like Zara, Topshop and Mango were also infiltrating US shores, leaving All-American basic labels like Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch in the dust.

2001: Vente Privee Launches
Remember life before Gilt Groupe? If you responded by saying “not really,” you’ve got to thank its predecessor, the France-based Vente Privee. You all know the story: Company launches exclusive online sample sales, reports $800 million in revenue in 2008. A decade later, the private sale is the hottest retail model around.

2001: PPR Wins Gucci
After an epic battle between billionaire Bernard Arnault of Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) and billionaire Francois Pinnault of PPR, the latter finally gained control of the Gucci Group, which includes Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent and more. As PPR moved from discount retail into the world of high luxury, it was obvious to designers that being a part of a big conglomerate like LVMH, PPR or Richemont was a way to build a brand without sacrificing design integrity. The corporate infrastructure of these companies helped brands like Balenciaga, Stella McCartney and Edun to increase profits through fragrance, accessories and other well-thought-out licensing deals.

2003: Target Signs Isaac Mizrahi
When Target brought him on to design a women’s fashion collection in 2003, Isaac Mizrahi was nothing more than a 1990s flash in the pan, better known for his documentary Unzipped and a short-lived talk show than beautiful preppy-glam clothing. Yet women couldn’t get enough of what Mizrahi offered at Target: Shiny shift dresses, polka dot blouses and pointy flats. By 2005, the cheap-chic collection garnered $500 million in sales for Target. Mizrahi has since moved onto Liz Claiborne, but his work at Target made it okay for high-end designers to collaborate with low-end retailers.

2004: Rachel Zoe Becomes a Household Name
While celebrity stylists have been around for decades, it was the Naughts that made them rich and independently famous. When Rachel Zoe transformed train wreck Nicole Richie into a chic hippie, she also made big sunglasses, tiered prairie dresses and honey-highlighted hair the look du jour. Today, stylists command thousands of dollars per day for their services, and more and more young women are clamoring to follow in their footsteps.

2005: LVMH Sells Lacroix, Proving that Fashion is More About Commerce than Art
After standing by his money-sucking side for nearly 20 years, LVMH exec Arnault finally sold off Christian Lacroix’s failing fashion business to Florida-based investment company Fallic Group for a measly 2 million euros. We all know how the story ended: Fallic was unable to revive the brand, which made beautiful six-figure couture dresses but could not connect with a consumer at the fragrance, accessory and ready-to-wear levels. It was reduced to a licensing operation at the end of 2009. As sad as it is that Lacroix is not making his beautiful dresses, his struggles serve as an example for the rest of the fashion industry. The lesson: If you want to stay small, stay small, but if you want to make a lot of money, you’ve got to play by retail’s rules. Design may be an art, but fashion is a business.

Jil Sander and Others Lose the Rights to Their Own Names
Another indication that fashion is serious stuff: After disagreements with their corporate backers, designers like Jil Sander, Helmut Lang and Camilla Staerk have lost the rights to their name brands, which are also their given names. Jil Sander returned with +J for Uniqlo, Lang stopped designing altogether to do fine art and Staerk now designs under her surname.

Versace, Ferragamo and Prada Hint At–But Don’t Go Through With–IPOs
From whispers at Salvatore Ferragamo and Versace in 2006 to Tommy Hilfiger, and Prada’s de-listing–then hopes of re-listing–at several points throughout the decade, many fashion companies sought out public funds, but for one reason or another, were not able to actually attain them. Of course, the 2008 crash made raising money even more difficult. Yet Hilfiger, Versace and Prada still haven’t ruled out public offerings. The Teens may just be the decade of fashion IPOs.

2005: LVMH Starts Suing the Heck out of Copyright Infringees
From eBay to Wal-Mart to Bad Boy Records, LVMH crusaded against counterfeit handbags and copyright infringements in the last half of this decade. The lawsuits resulted in an industry-wide debate over what could-and couldn’t-be copied. Intellectual property lawyers prayed to the Louis Vuitton gods each day, thanking them for making their profession more lucrative than ever.

2006: Tom Ford Proves You Can Still Build A Luxury Brand From (Almost) Scratch
After years of conglomerates buying the rights to old fashion houses and hiring the Next Big Designer to revive the brand, Tom Ford did something radical. He broke away from Gucci (where he had played the corporate fashion game, making both said brand and YSL financially viable) and launched a label under his own moniker. Tom Ford currently consists of fragrance–a partnership with Estee Lauder–men’s suiting, shirts, shoes, sunglasses and a few discreet shops that keep customer’s measurements on file for bespoke services. Next step? Women’s wear. Could Ford be THE brand of the Teens? I sure think so.

But while Ms. Susie Bubble pinned down the shoe’s aesthetics–a cool mix of colorful industrial plastic and smooth, sculptural lines–I wanted to know why two young women, educated at F.I.T. in New York, Palimoda in Florence and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, would want to move back to Taiwan to launch a shoe business when they were clearly talented enough to succeed in a cutthroat fashion capital.

So I emailed founders Michelle Wu and Yoyo Pan and asked. And yes, I also also bought a pair of shoes.

The Fashion Beat: Why are you based in Taipei and not New York, London or Paris?

Heavy Machine’s Michelle Wu: Because Taipei’s where we’re from and where our families are. Besides wanting to be physically close to them (which is very Asian), the cost to start up something in our own town is much lower.

TFB: Do you think you’ll stay where you are?

MW: It’s a tough question, this one.

TFB: What stores are carrying your Spring 2010 collection?

MW: So far it’s Babelfair (New York), Helianthus (New York), Mr. T (Taipei, Taiwan), Sole (Xinzhu, Taiwan) and Le Lutin (Shanghai). (Still working on the other possibilities!)

TFB: On your Web site, you talk about making shoes that women can run in. What technologies have you used to create more comfortable footwear?

MW: Nothing technically special. But we spent a lot of time developing and adjusting our shoe’s last shape to make it as comfy as possible.

TFB: Finally, what drew you to shoe design in the first place?

MW: We love shoes. We believe a good pair of shoes will take you to everywhere! It was hard for us to find affordable interesting shoes in our town, so we just started creating our own.

Jillian Smith is a bit of a Renaissance woman. A graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, she began her career assisting famed fashion historian Valerie Steele. Since then, she’s worked as a writer for Paper magazine, dabbling in styling along the way. But her biggest role has been as a marketing and public relations consultant for W Hotels, Cotton Incorporated and a gazillion fantastic fashion brands, including Elise Overland, Y3 and Jen Kao.

I’ve been working with Jillian for a few years now, and I have to say, she’s one of the best publicists I know. That probably has to do with the fact that she’s also a writer and a reporter. But it’s mostly because she knows what she’s talking about. Especially when it comes to jeans.

Here, Jillian–as official as a “denim expert” can get–offers us peek inside this every-growing industry.

The Fashion Beat: How did you become a denim expert?
Jillian Smith: Completely by accident! I learned a lot about the technical and manufacturing side while working for Cotton Incorporated. While there I created a blog, DenimHunt.com, and that’s when my knowledge of denim really flourished. When I left Cotton I continued to consult for a number of brands, ranging from Prps to Mavi. I now contribute to Denimology.com.

TFB: I feel like, in some ways, the naughties have been the decade of denim. What were some of the innovations or style introductions that really changed the game, in your opinion?
JS: Though [now it's] completely dated, the trend of excessive embellishment really helped drive up the price of premium denim. Even without embellishment, the price point has stayed quite high in comparison to “designer denim” of decades prior, simply because consumers became accustomed to paying a certain price for certain brands.

The Internet changed the denim game by making jeans accessible to consumers all over the globe. The Web has also kept consumers better informed about trends and, of course, what their favorite celebs were wearing. As gossip rags reached their peak, sites like JustJared and FabSugar began tracking what brands celebrities were endorsing, feeding into the desire to dress like a famous person. Now, personal style blogs are creating the trends (think Jane at Sea of Shoes or Jessica at WhatIWore). They’re the new celeb blog.

What’s more, accessibility has resulted in the availability of a larger variety of styles. In order to keep up with demand, brands are forced to produce not only their basics, but also innovative trend items like “jeggings.”

TFB: Are you surprised that the big denim brands of the early party of this decade–particularly 7 For All Mankind–are still ubiquitous?
JS: What we’re seeing now, especially with the recession, is really the survival of the fittest. The brands that are doing well have a great core product that continues to garner new interest. Rock and Republic has done a great job of maintaining an identity while changing with the times (they’ve introduced a lower-priced line and created a more subtle logo.) Brands like True Religion and Chip and Pepper, while still around, have not adapted to the current retail climate as well as their competitors from the early ’00s. It’s almost like they held onto their identity too closely and did not allow for modifications in branding or styles.

TFB: Personally, I kind of feel like the “I can’t find jeans that fit me” complaint to be a little unbelievable. No matter what size I’ve been I have always been able to find a flattering pair. Why do you think most find it so hard to find jeans that fit?
JS: It has nothing to do with product selection. Rather, most people get frustrated because of expectations of what the jeans will make them look like. Denim brands rely very heavily on marketing, more so than a runway designer who can create an entire mood through a full collection and presentation. Denim brands have to use a particular model and celebrity placement to really communicate what type of woman would be seen in their products. Naturally every woman wants to be 5′11″ and a size 26 or Angelina Jolie, but buying the brand of jeans she wears is not going to make you look like her.

The key to finding the right fit is analyzing your body type. Someone with heavy hips will have a hard time finding any skinny jeans to flatter them, but if they try something like a straight leg cut, they’ll have much better results while still achieving a slim leg silhouette. It’s all about balancing the body. It works with rise length as well–a long torso should try a higher rise to balance out where the body is proportioned by the eye.

The other thing: don’t be afraid of wearing a different size than you’re accustomed to. Again, with everyone wanting to be as thin as possible, women are often discouraged when they think they’re one size and find they’re actually something completely different. The secret: it’s not you! Every brand is different, every style is different, and even every wash and fabrication is different. Always try on a size smaller and larger than you think you are. It’s surprising what actually ends up being the most flattering.

TFB: I know that you consult for a lot of denim companies, but can you name some brands that just continually blow you away? What’s so great about them?
JS: I’m always impressed with Levi’s. They are certainly THE heritage brand, but they do so well at offering products in every price range, for every size, for every age and gender while still maintaining a brand identity. They also do a great job at taking a few risks every season. They had a wonderful plaid for FW09 that really made a nice addition to the line, not to mention their amazing collaborations with people like Robert Geller, Shepard Fairery/OBEY and Damien Hirst.

192 Doves, though a smaller, lesser known brand, has continued to impress me with their ability to adapt with every product run. They really listen to their consumer and if they find the sizing is skewing too large or too small, they really take that into account and change that for future runs. They also offer unique jeans without flashy distressing or applique. [Editor's note: I really like this line, too.]

J Brand has also done a really wonderful job at maintaining an identity and offering more styles as their customer base increases. I really see them as the next Seven because of their emphasis on cut and fit rather than gimmicky embellishment or distressing.

TFB: If someone wants to pay $50 bucks or less for denim, where should they go?
JS: If you’re in New York City, the must stop for jeans is Trash & Vaudeville. As much as I love everyone I work with, you’ll see me at least a four times a week in their trademark skinnies, favored by people like the Ramones, Iggy Pop, and even featured in the pages of Vogue. Plus, you get the added bonus of chatting with my biggest crush, Jimmy Webb. He’s an absolute legend with an incredible collection of stories to share. Best part, they retail at about $50 and come in every color and pattern under the sun. Better yet, you can always catch major deals on the sales racks in the back.

For those not in New York, of course Levi’s. Duh. But surprisingly there’s a wonderful selection on sites like Alloy and Delia’s, which are typically seen as shops for teens and tweens. However, they offer a large variety of styles in a HUGE range of sizes. Alloy for example has inseams ranging from 30″-37″ starting at $30. [Another ed. note: I agree, again!]

If it’s premium denim at a bargain price that you’re after, watch sites like Gilt and ShopBop for sales. It’s not unheard of to find all the top brands in the $50 range.

TFB: This one’s from my boyfriend: “I find button flies uncomfortable and a pain in the ass. Is there a technological reason for button flies still existing? Or is just that some people prefer the look?”
JS: It no longer has a function; it’s just a different style. I think it looks great on women in a cut off denim short. On men, the classic 501 with a button fly maintains a certain Springsteen-cool.

TFB: So many denim brands–Joe’s, True Religion–have reported that sales of men’s jeans continue to increase year-over-year-by double digits, even during the recession. Why do you think that is?
JS: Men’s denim is a wonderful example of keeping it simple. In general there are just a few men’s styles per brand, and the styles offered are much more basic. There might be a few variations on washes, but the cuts don’t really deviate from slim, boot-cut, and full-leg. This keeps manufacturing costs down. (Less design, less complicated patterns, etc.) Men also shop a lot differently than women. They’re not looking for a hot trend jean to wear out with friends. They’re looking for a flattering cut and a wash they like. When they find that, they’ll come back year after year and buy five of the same exact jeans because they know they fit and they know they’ll like them. For instance, I could go buy my dad a pair of jeans today and I know it’ll be exactly what he loves and in the right size. He’s been wearing the same Wrangler’s and Levi’s for 30 years.

TFB: What do you see as the “next big thing” in denim?
JS: Simplicity. Cleaner, darker washes, less distressing, a cleaner back pocket design. Look for more gray tones in the washes.  I think we’ll also see a lot more innovation happen in eco-friendly denim. It’s about more than just organic cottons; the industry has been working hard to cut waste in product, packaging and even dying. We’ll also see denim used in more nontraditional ways, especially combined with leather. Rick Owens FW08 was indicative of where designers will be headed. Alexander Wang also showed this in a denim jacket with leather sleeves for Spring 2009. It’s been seen on everyone from Rihanna to Lindsay Lohan. Elise Overland advanced this trend further for spring 2010 by taking her trademark leathers and piecing them together with denim to create a leather-patched jean.

Got a question about the fashion or retail industry that you’d like answered? Email me on lauren@tfbeat.com.

Listening in on Neiman Marcus Group CEO Burt Tansky’s analyst conference call on December 9, one couldn’t help feeling depressed. Tansky, who oversees upscale department stores Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, said that the luxury sector’s “challenging retail environment” was likely to go on for “an extended period of time.”

In the company’s most recent quarter–ending October 31, 2009–it saw year-over-year sales decline by 11.9% (to $868.9 million) and y-o-y profits shrink by 34%. In November, y-o-y comparable store sales decreased by 9.7%.

Yet if data from online personal finance service Mint.com is any indication, sales during the holiday season should be okay. Mint tracked spending per user at four retailers over the last year, and you can see that there’s been a significant increase. Definitely not as good as during the boom years, but okay. Especially for Nordstrom, which began providing online shipping to 30 different countries last month.

While it’s a little disconcerting that Banana Republic is included in the luxury mix, Mint does have access to thousands upon thousands of credit card and bank accounts, so it’s safe to say that these numbers are pretty accurate. Maybe there’s hope for the luxury retailer after all.

Target To-Go

And in the spirit of the season, Target will place 500 “over-sized and easy-to-identify” gift tags across each of the three cities. If you find a gift tag, return it to the Target To-Go location and you’ll receive a gift card for $10-$500. Each time a ticket is returned to Target, the company will donate $500 to The Salvation Army.

Sure, that all sounds great–especially the idea of shopping the Rodarte for Target collection just in time for the holiday parties I’m attending this week and next–but what I’m really impressed by is Target’s determination to reach beyond to the confines of New York City this time around.

While those of us who live in the area are lucky enough to enjoy the slew of pop-up shops, sample sales (many better than what’s offered online) and special events held in New York everyday, that’s not the case in most other U.S. metros. Target, by any stretch of the imagination, isn’t a New York-centric brand. While it’s smart to attract new customers this time of year, its core customer should be rewarded as well. That’s why To-Go shops in SF and D.C. make me so happy–they’re more inclusive while remaining exclusive. Here’s hoping Target brings this concept to even more cities next year.

P.S., here are the addresses for the three locations:

• New York City: Gansevoort and Washington Streets, at the High Line entrance
• San Francisco: Mint Plaza, 5th Street between Market and Mission Streets
• Washington, D.C.: M Street NW and Wisconsin Avenue NW in Georgetown

Clymer, who abandoned the world of finance to work on Hodinkee full time this past April, co-hosted the preview with the house. Guests were able to examine each piece, with Antiquorum’s auctioneers on hand to answer any and all questions. The actual sale, featuring over 400 different lots, begins today at 11am, with a second session at 2pm.

But back to the watch: What you’re looking at here is not a set of three watches, but instead one timepiece with three exchangeable dials. Sure, the dials are nifty, but as you can see, there’s very little pomp in this piece.

Circumstance, on the other hand, is abundant. The Patek Philippe Ref. 3974 Platinum, made in 1999, has plenty of complications (a watch-people term for features), including a perpetual calendar, moon phases and leap year indication, but what makes it special is its rareness. Only three models of this particular watch have ever been sold at auction. It’s estimated to garner at least $1 million.

But really, how could it be that expensive? As Clymer explained to me in a recent Q&A for eBay’s The Inside Source, watch collecting is a lot like car collecting: it’s less about the bells and whistles and more about the history. “Watches have an inherent longevity,” he explained. “To many people, they are daily reminders of a person or place. Sure, they’re stylish and functional, but above all else they’re heirlooms.”

Last week, Tech Crunch reported that Amazon was in talks to buy French sample sale site Vente-Privee for an estimated $3 billion. VP is the original inspiration for U.S. phenomenon Gilt Groupe, which brought in an estimated $150 million in sales for 2009. (Of course, there are several other sites that followed Gilt, including Rue La La, which was acquired by GSI Commerce in October 2009 for an estimated $350 million.)

While Gilt is undoubtedly the most successful and high-profile of the sample sale sites currently operating in the U.S.–it even sponsored runway shows for top designers Rodarte and Alexander Wang at New York Fashion Week this past September–Vente-Privee is a bigger animal, and its presence in the U.S. would undoubtedly cut into Gilt’s market share. Unlike Gilt’s other competitors, this France-based company has similar access to top fashion houses like Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen. Sites like Haute Look and Rue La La stick to mid-market, more accessible labels. Plus, Amazon’s customer service and logistical operations are beyond sophisticated. Even retail behemoths like Wal-Mart can’t touch Amazon online.

Vente-Privee’s 2008 sales reached $807 million, a 46% increase from 2007. It currently operates in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Regardless of whether or not Amazon buys VP, there’s little doubt the sample site that started it all will eventually going to open up shop in the U.S. How can Gilt Groupe continue to flourish when this happens?

1. Join them. The Business Insider suggests that Amazon should consider buying Gilt, too.
2. Continue to diversify. Although I am not at all impressed with Gilt’s travel deal Web site Jetsetter–the deals are mediocre; anyone who is savvy enough to belong to Jetsetter is savvy enough to find a similar booking on Kayak.com–I think it’s a good move to venture into other consumer markets. If Gilt figures out how to offer true value on Jetsetter, it might be able to make it work. Gilt Man, I believe, is its most impressive spin-off yet.
3. Wine and dine those designers to get exclusives. Since the beginning, Gilt’s differentiator has been its direct relationships with the designers. Founders Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and Alexis Maybank both run in elite New York circles, which means that these are people they party with on regular basis. What’s more, Wilkis Wilson spent years as a buyer for companies like Louis Vuitton, so both the business and social connections are strong. Gilt needs to continue capitalize on that and make exclusive deals with these brands before Vente-Privee swoops in.

COS
I’ve been to four locations of this H&M-owned retailer, and I must say, each time I step inside I fall more in love. COS’s product is a cross between H&M’s styling and Reiss’s sophisticated tailoring. The designs are almost directional–I bought a pair of baggy, peg-legged chinos with a super high waist, something you’d expect to find at Acne, not a high street store–but the fabrics, colors and construction are more refined. (During my last visit, there were lots of peaches, navies, and of course, gray and black. These are colors the modern sophisticate loves.) Prices are steeper than H&M–think $120-$200 for a dress, compared with $50-$120 at Hennes–but the quality is elevated. While H&M’s CEO Karl-Johan Persson said via WWD that the company will expand into new markets come 2010, he wouldn’t go into specifics regarding COS. However, I’m confident it will head Stateside someday. The demand is there.

Lagerhaus
Imagine a Pier 1 Imports with products that are actually attractive. That’s Swedish home goods store Lagerhaus, which I discovered on a trip to Stockholm in 2008. A big issue I have with most American housewares shops is that their textiles–napkins, pillow covers, curtains–are just awful. It’s even hard for me to find a piece of fabric I like at Jo-Ann. However, Lagerhaus carries cool prints at an affordable price. Some–like its Hello Kitty collection–are a bit too kitschy for my taste, but Lagerhaus definitely boasts a better selection than I’ve come across in the past. I’m particularly taken with this cutesy fox pillow, $11.50.

Colette
It may have transformed from an insider’s paradise into a tourist destination, but despite all the negative remarks, I believe Colette is still the coolest. On my last visit to Paris, I spent time in the store’s Rodarte-curated art exhibit and shop-in-shop, and even paid for my items while standing next to Karl Lagerfeld. (It doesn’t get cooler than the Kaiser.) Sarah, the store’s buyer and daughter of Colette, still works the shop floor every day. This boutique, opened in 1997, is credited with pioneering the concept store–ahem–concept. Twelve years later, as specialty retailers struggle to maintain market share, it seems that many mass retailers are taking a page from Colette’s book, and that the concept boutique idea has gone mainstream. Some business background: For thirty years, specialty retailers like Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria’s Secret have defined American mall culture, as well as American retail in general. (They replaced the department store as the mass trend-setting entity.) While specialty retailers will always exist in some capacity–just as department stores will always exist–many are morphing into stores that sell a lifestyle (or a concept), not just a certain kind of shoe or a particular style of jeans. (Anthropologie and J.Crew are great examples of this. If you shop frequently at one of these stores, it’s likely you see yourself as a “J.Crew” girl or an “Anthropologie” type of person. It’s not just about what they sell, it’s the combination of what they sell and, again, how they sell it.)

Merci
This newish Paris concept shop–created by the founders of the Bonpoint brand of children’s clothing–is truly innovative. It sells a mix of vintage and new clothing, with brands donating their profits to charities in Madagascar. Labels represented include YSL, Stella McCartney and Isabel Marant–a dream lineup, I assure you. But there’s more. Alongside the second-hand Repetto flats and vintage Chanel bags, you’ll find an Annick Goutal create-your-own fragrance laboratory, a bookstore that looks more like a library, a housewares department stocked with affordable clay dinnerware and an extensive stationery section. I picked up two beautiful notebooks–one in rust, another in granite–and some colored pencils. In the “library” you can have tea and small plates, while a larger eating area downstairs serves a full menu. I spent a few hours at Merci on my visit, and I wish more stores would put so much time into creating such a pleasant environment; it makes it harder to leave empty-handed.

Weekday
Acquired by H&M in 2008, Weekday sells its own line of hip duds, mid-market labels like Acne and also reworked vintage. What it’s most famous for is the Cheap Monday line of jeans, which became hot in the U.S. around 2006, mostly because of the $65 price tag. I like Weekday because while it’s not a boutique–the flagship store consists of three large floors–it has the feel of a boutique. The clothes, like COS’s, are quite directional, but they’re also super inexpensive. I paid $35 for a cropped, over-sized button down shirt a couple of years back, and it still looks forward today. While Cheap Monday jeans and its accompanying woven collection are available at stores like Inven.tory and Barneys New York across the country, I’m still waiting for that elusive Weekday store to pop up in SoHo. Fingers crossed!

Primark
I’m not denying Primark is a bit sketchy and that many of its goods are far too inexpensive–1 GPB for a pair of knickers is not normal, people–but I will say that when you’re 21, broke and living paycheck-to-paycheck in London, one of the most expensive cities in the world, this discount retailer is a real comfort. On a recent visit to the U.K. I picked up a gray jersey blazer for about $12. Unbelievable. And kind of scary.