Komune is the coolest new store on the Lower East Side

Orchard Street on the Lower East Side has long been known as a hub for the city’s most fashion-conscious residents. Along its seven blocks, you’ll find thrift stores that sell vintage designer, outposts for local brands and pop ups that offer a window into trends that probably won’t catch on until next year. 

Over the past few months there’s been a new kid on the block making plenty of noise and that you should definitely know: Komune, a clothing store that feels part gallery and part 5-star hotel lobby, is platforming emerging designers from New York and across the globe. 

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Part of Komune’s popularity, like many businesses these days, can be attributed to a series of TikToks that pointed out its excellent curation. Here, you’ll find items that epitomize the “Lower East Side aesthetic,” a loose term that refers to the distinctly grungy but polished look that has emerged out of the neighborhood. It involves dark colors, maxi skirts, corsets and a liberal use of accessories. The designs exist at the intersection of stuff you can wear to a warehouse rave and to your creative office job.

At the center of the store, you’ll see a rotating rack highlighting two designers, which will change almost every week. Each of the columns along the store’s outer wall is set aside for a different designer and stays in the store for a season, or anywhere between three and four months. It total, Komune will host eight brands at a time and offer a mix of consistency and novelty. 

Currently on the store’s rotation is Ella Roberts, a London Fashion Week darling who focuses on corset tops; gsongim, a NYC based leather accessory maker; untitlab, which focuses on footwear; and more. You can check out Komune’s website to see who is on its racks right now. 

Two of the founders—Martin Li and Brandon Fogarty—grew up in Boston together and would skip school to take the bus down to New York so they could make it to the infamous Supreme drops on Thursdays. The irreverent and playful ethos—and most of all, the obsession with streetwear—exists in the bold choices of who Komune highlights in any given week. 

Although many of the designers platformed in Komune happen to be Asian, its owners want to make it clear that the store doesn’t solely work with Asian designers as some early social media videos previously claimed. Instead, the founding team—Martin Li, Lia Feng, Cassie Mao, Brandon Fogarty, and Alex Tao—just so happen to be predominantly Asian, and they admit they like to feature underrepresented designers in general. “We try to be as location and style agnostic as possible,” Li, the head buyer and store manager, tells me. “Our hope is that good design is good design and we want to represent that here in New York.” 

This philosophy is found even in its name, which was inspired by the concept of an artist commune, and the store purports to be a much-needed community space where creatives in the neighborhood can come together, learn, and discuss ideas in a comfortable space. The brutalist cement walls and floor clash against the plants and pebbles—a nod at the Japanese design principle of wabi-sabi. Store workers offer you tea or water, and there’s a sense that you can just stick around and chill if you want, no purchase necessary.

Already, the store is quickly becoming a hub for stylish young people across the city. After the sudden closure of Chop Suey Club down the block, the fashion-forward downtown crowd is hungry for another space to kick back. Komune is quickly becoming that spot. 

You can visit Komune at 92 Orchard Street from Thursday to Sunday from noon to 7pm. 

* This article was originally published here