I deeply apologize, but when companies like Kmart, Forever 21 and Victoria’s Secret announce store closings, not a bone in my Gen Z body cares. There must be others with me on this one; recalling my neon pink A cup push-up bra from sixth grade still stops me from coming fifteen feet from a Victoria’s Secret storefront. So, it seemed unlikely that this ‘retail apocalypse’ was going to defeat any of my favorite brands.
That is until this past Tuesday, Opening Ceremony took to Instagram to announce they were closing all four brick and mortar shops after being bought by New Guards Group.
The Opening Ceremony brand has generated quite the cult following since launching its first store in Manhattan in 2002. And as a girl who fled to New York on the weekends to visit my older, cooler, NYU-going brother, Opening Ceremony, with its Soho socialites sitting outside, was a cult I could get behind.
The store left its visitors inspired, from its minimalistic yet creative store design to the curation of brilliant emerging and established designers. It certainly did not resemble the JCPenny’s my mom had taken me to the Wednesday prior, to say the least.
Retail, in my eyes, will never be dead. There will always be a need to see, touch and try on clothes, especially high end couture.
But, I admittedly am worried about which of my beloved companies could be next, exes marked on their backs. There is hope that there will be a comeback of sorts with founders Carol Lim and Humberto Leon hinting, “This is a moment of transition for Opening Ceremony and, together with our new partners, we are taking the chance to step back and evaluate the future of our Opening Ceremony retail experience.” I;m keeping my fingers crossed.
Graphic by Elaine Benoit