Fashion designer John Varvatos brings his music-driven style to the Magic City with a new concept store at Bal Harbour Shops.
John Varvatos’s rock star-worthy designs have garnered him fans the world over, including right here in Miami.
Designer John Varvatos’s eponymous brand may be only 14 years old, but his impact in the men’s fashion space is already legendary. The Detroit-born designer is heavily influenced by the rock ’n’ roll community, which is reflected in his work every season in some way, from ad campaigns featuring ZZ Top, Alice Cooper, Willie Nelson, and The Roots to his boutique in what was once famed New York music venue CBGB.
For fall, Varvatos riffed off his Spring 2014 campaign subjects, Gene Simmons and Kiss. “When I was doing my runway show in Milan [earlier this year], Kiss was playing there the same week,” says Varvatos. “There were like 35,000 people. Here’s Kiss, who hasn’t had a radio hit in years, and I asked myself what makes them so iconic to another generation? At first, yes, it’s the music, but they are somewhat superheroes in their stage persona and their look.”
Varvatos’s new Bal Harbour boutique shows off the designer’s more luxurious side.
The Fall 2014 collection emphasizes little details that Varvatos calls “magic dust.” “Whether it’s the way we finish our boots with a little more of a chunky tread, or shoulders on a garment or a fun feather effect, it’s still very beautiful and very elegant,” says the designer of his current rock star-worthy looks, which can all be scooped up at the label’s newest store at Bal Harbour Shops. “Lincoln Road [was] mirrored off our New York store and the Bowery—it’s much more casual and a little beach,” Varvatos says of his first South Florida boutique.
In contrast, “Bal Harbour is one of the greatest shopping centers in the country, and it gave us the ability to do a very luxury-oriented store,” he explains. “It’s fun to be able to have two worlds of John Varvatos. I love having the ability to have different personalities of the brand down here.”
The new boutique, which was inspired by typical apartments one might find in New York’s Upper East Side neighborhood, has a residential feel. Designed by Varvatos himself with his inhouse team, it boasts custom leather furniture, midcentury lighting, handpicked vintage pieces, and a ceiling made up entirely of concave mirrors. The walls will act as a gallery space, periodically rotating rock ’n’ roll photographs from Rock Paper Photo (which are all for sale).
The entire store reflects the elegant side of Varvatos, who is also introducing a made-to-measure program this fall. “There’s a return to elegance and dressing up,” he muses. “It’s even evident in the Kiss ads—how elegant they were. Guys have been so casual with casual Fridays and whatever, but they’re really enjoying a moment to dress up again,” he says.
And while Miami is growing up, it’s good to see we can still rock and roll, all night long. Bal Harbour Shops, 9700 Collins Ave., 305-866-0162; 1020 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, 305-674-7917