Nordstrom flagship has premiered a stunning new pop-up shop for menswear this week. Concept 003: printings.jp is a collaboration with esteemed Japanese publishing house printings.jp, and features rare and collectible vintage pieces by prolific designers Helmut Lang and Raf Simons. The limited pop-up shop will be available at the Nordstrom Men’s Store NYC, Nordstrom Downtown Seattle, Nordstrom Pacific Centre in Vancouver, B.C. and at Nordstrom.com from May 2 through May 30.
This collection is the third project for New Concepts @NordstromMen, following Concept 001: Out Cold and Concept 002: Dior. Out Cold featured winter sporting apparel from international designers, while Concept 002: Dior featured a unique art installation and three silhouettes exclusive to Nordstrom and Isetan (Japan), all featuring the Dior bee reimagined by visual artist KAWS.
The series is the brainchild of Sam Lobban, Nordstrom’s VP of Men’s Fashion, who joined the company in June 2018. Lobban started his retail career at Selfridges, where he was quickly promoted from the sales floor to merchant roles. Next stop: Mr. Porter, where Lobban was on the team leading strategy for designer capsule collections, which have included Balenciaga, Burberry, Gucci, Prada and Made in California.
At Nordstrom, in his New Concepts series, Lobban has innovated beyond the capsule collection model, both in-store and online. This latest pop-up of truly collectible archive fashion is something that the regular shopper rarely gets to see, let alone access. In short, it’s like a carefully curated retrospective for two influential and prolific designers, not just a consumer destination.
Concept 003: printings.jp includes—to name only a few—a Raf Simons David Bowie top from the 90s, a fishtail coat from his FW05 collection, and from Helmut Lang “Mummy” Bondage Jeans from FW04 and a painted denim jacket from 1996. And that’s not all. From Nordstrom:
As part of the pop-up, New Concepts @NordstromMen will exclusively launch printings.jp’s release of 1986-2005, a new two-volume digest detailing the work of Helmut Lang. The book follows the success of 1996-2001 / 2001-2006 which documented Raf Simons’ collections through his formative years. Both books pay tribute to two visionaries who changed the landscape of menswear forever. “I’m a longtime fan of both Helmut Lang and Raf Simons, and it was Raf’s fall 2005 collection that first introduced me to the world of designer menswear. It connected with me personally and had an enduring effect on my style,” said Lobban. “I love the idea that through printings.jp’s books, and now Concept 003, we can make these pieces accessible to everyone where previously they were reserved for just a few.”
