Fashion

Plain Jane? Or create your own fashion lane?

By Charles Joseph

The mannequin in the window of Muji wears a camp-collared, navy shirt of 100% linen. Ryan Chung, the 29-year-old sales clerk in that boutique on Cooper Square, wears a navy linen shirt from Muji, too, but it’s an oxford button-down. 

“Plain, flat, very, uh, natural,” Chung said of what he was wearing and selling at Muji, a Tokyo, Japan-based brand with shops in 18 U.S. cities. 

“The colors aren’t really based on seasons,” said Chung, describing them as “earthy, natural, muted colors. So many of them are white, black, gray, dark green, brown, brick-red, blue, muted yellow.”

Rarely, he added, are any of Muji’s pieces “in bright, flashy hues that stand out, like, red or orange.” Also, most of Muji’s clothing is cotton, linen, denim, polyester, or a mix of those.”

In fashion, you have your minimalist, and you have your maximalist. 

Those minimal styles show up in, among other stores, Japan-based Uniqlo and U.S. reality series star Kim Kardashian’s Skims line. 

Manny Armenta, 22, who sells second-hand clothes from a rack he set up in Washington Square Park, said he is a regular customer at Uniqlo, where he buys T-shirts and socks, and at Muji, which is where he purchases hoodies.

Armenta, 22 said, “Muji, the online store? I actually just ordered three hoodies the other day… a red one, their black faded and  …”

The clothes at Muji have relaxed silhouettes and tones; Muji also sells minimalist stationery, pens and pencils. In addition to taking a minimalist approach to their clothing, Muji isn’t big on traditional marketing and does very little of that. 

On the maximalist side of things, people love logos and all sorts of flamboyance, said student Eddy Flores, 19. “What makes me gravitate towards brands that prioritize logos is how it screams the brand name and turns a basic piece of clothing into art.” 

One recent day, taking photos on a bench in Soho to post on Instagram, Flores was wearing a white Supreme T-shirt with its signature logo, shaped like a cross, with gray and navy blue Eric Emanuel shorts. 

Bright colors also are a centerpiece in the maximalism of designer John Fluevog, whose boutique is on Prince Street in Soho. Fluevog sales clerk Twiggy Moore, 24, said, “People that come in and buy the shoes already have such a distinctive style. And the shoes add life when you put them on, and you can see their personality shine through.” 

Fluevlog’s shoes come in pink, purple, red, orange, yellow and green. “People,” Moore said, “ come here to find unique colorful shoes for weird people.” 

Video link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XNU_5QDQr-flyjXxXwI4R915We-739gd/view?ts=62e156a4