"Retailer-extraordinaire Chris Burch will open his newest boutique, C. Wonder, October 22, in Soho. The new concept will sell housewares, home decor, personal electronics, in addition to apparel, shoes, jewelry and accessories, according to our sources. "Chris Burch is best known for being the brains -- and money-- behind ex-wife Tory Burch. Not willing to just sit on his wallet, Chris has been working on several concepts, including the launch of lifestyle brand Monika Chiang. (That's Chris' current girlfriend)."
Well. I've seen taxi-tv ads for C.Wonder, and the ads are a cross between the Target Bullseye with Dog ads and the Gap all-singing all-dancing all-jiving chino ads of years past. You would never know from the taxi ads that the newest creation of a "retailer-extraordinaire" is being touted. Yes, that's one of the names he goes by. Keep reading for others.
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| POPPIN'S COLOR CHOICES for pens, desktop stuff, etc |
The article continues: "We are told that Kelly Cutrone designed the new clothing line for C. Wonder --which is surprisingly colorful -- and the office supplies draw from another Burch venture, called Poppin. Poppin's chicly redesigned office supplies are currently sold online at an affordable price point and come in an array of bright colors. Totally cool (or at least they photograph really cool)." I checked out Poppin and not everything is colorful. However the prices are not terrible for decent-looking pads, pencils, office supplies generally, as opposed to the tawdry kind (but with the firm name on) that the office manager got a good buy on. Poppin's mission is apparently to give everyone who uses a pad backed with thin cardboard that bends an opportunity to omit at least some of those "I'm wasting my life" moments from the workday. Unless you're too stubborn to bring your own supplies to the office. I bring my own pens everywhere, because I prefer my handwriting to be legible. Most of the time.
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| some whoopee from C.Wonder's website-in-progress |
And I can do no better than the Madison Avenue Spy's conclusion:
"If all goes according to plan, C. Wonder will multiply across the country. As a matter of fact, Chris Burch is so confident about his self-named venture, he's requested others to call him The King. Perhaps he is testing the name of his next retail concept."Or he could call it J.Wonder. In the words of Mel Brooks, "It's good to be da King." Possibly even better than to be "da Prince"?
