Men have it good at Rockefeller Center. From classic and formal to funky and fresh, brands like Brooks Brothers, Façonnable, Banana Republic, Cole Haan and J. Crew help men get dressed in the mornings and evenings (and you guys look great). The newest addition to that venerable list is Onassis, a men's clothing line with two shops in NYC and a growing worldwide presence.
Men's fashion doesn't exactly spend its time exploring radical new directions, so it's nice when an affordable line pays attention to the important factors like like cut, collars and colors. These are supremely stylish everyday clothes in an understated palette, with the kinds of contemporary and youthful details that matter. Onassis marketing manager Anthony Carrillo gave us the rundown on the brand, and we were pleased to learn more about its stylish approach.
In the summer of 2010, Onassis opened their first store at 71 Greene Street in Soho, a concept store with exposed brick walls and a coffee shop in back. Two years later, the Rockefeller Center location became its second retail venture. It's worth noting that all the clothing you see in Onassis stores is designed right in Manhattan at their Midtown office and in the workspace beneath the Soho shop.
Fabric is everything, and Onassis sources materials from all over the globe—textiles from Japan, Italy, the United States and Great Britain all contribute to the line. Each piece gets its unique high and low tones through a special dyeing technique, where the completed garment is dyed rather than the raw fabric, resulting in one-of-a-kind items. The design team sweats all those small details, as in the sheer amount of time they spent perfecting their shirts, including tweaking the traditional collar shape: the collar has been scalloped so that it sits better where it hits the shoulders.
Onassis is known to have some of the friendliest staff around, and these New Yorkers are a good-looking bunch too: current advertising imagery found on the website includes several members of the Onassis retail team. If you’re in one of the NYC stores, you can expect to see some semi-famous faces! (Plus check out the brand's cool Tumblr for more photos of staff, new arrivals and other visual inspiration.)
