This roundup of things we liked this week originally appeared in the September 12, 2024 edition of the Secret Strategist newsletter, a weekly email where we share the stuff our staff — plus a rotating cast of writers, design-world people, and various others with very good taste — would otherwise keep to themselves. If you want to get our picks straight to your inbox each week, sign up here.
An unusually nice new menswear shop called Ven.Space opens this Friday on Court Street with brands one previously couldn’t find in New York, such as Camiel Fortgens; others you could find but will still be happy to see, like Paraboot, Auralee, and Margaret Howell; and ones we’d personally never heard of but now love, like Taiga Takahashi and Kartik Research. The owner is Chris Green (of Totokaelo and Need Supply). —Katy Schneider and Simone Kitchens
This Week’s List
* In other new-store news: Vintage bridal shop Happy Isles just opened in Soho (134 Spring Street); Climax Books, which sells first editions, chokers, and video tapes, just opened on East 4th Street; and Outline just reopened with a bunch of new brands, like Colleen Allen (it’s the only place in New York you can buy Colleen Allen!) and Rier.
* Features writer Madeline Leung Coleman bought this reversible bucket tote for her sister, who called it perfect and said the “photos don’t really do justice to the slightly longer than usual strap or how adorable it is.”
* Found a cropped version and a zippered jacket version of Liam Gallagher’s excellent but old and hard-to-find Snow Peak anorak.
* A few ’90s Ikea squiggle lamps we’re seeing around: a pair on FB Marketplace, one on Etsy. The elongated cone shade has hints of this Santa & Cole style but for much, much less.
* A friend just ripped her Akari shade, which reminded us that while we were reporting this story, Joana Avillez told us the Noguchi Museum recommends repairing ripped Akaris with washi tape. We emailed for a link. “It’s an adhesive archival mending tissue by a brand called Lineco,” the museum told us. “The opacity of it is pretty similar to the washi paper, so it’s not very noticeable. We recommend taping on the inside of the shade. Can usually be found at art-supply stores, and here’s a roll of it online.” Do we think this is what Laila Gohar uses?
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
