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Tag: Soho

  • A PornHub pop-up shop has opened in SoHo

    A PornHub pop-up shop has opened in SoHo

    Pornhub chose Black Friday to open a popup store in New York’s trendy Soho district as the brand continues to position itself as mainstream and connect with fans.

    The store – which will trade until December 20 – features Pornhub-branded streetwear, books, gifts and toys for adults created in partnership with retailer Ann Summers.

    It’s the first of two popups planned by the previously online-only business, which last year attracted 23 billion visits – that’s 44,000 every minute – and streamed nearly 92 billion videos.

    A Pornhub holiday-themed popup shop will be opening in Milan in Italy, at Via De Cristoforis 5 – right by the famous Corso Como, on a street which is home to brands including Christian Louboutin, Chiara Ferragni and Moschino. The Milan store will offer what Pornhub describes as “an intimate boutique environment for European fans of the site to shop Pornhub-branded limited-edition apparel and gifts”.

    In a partnership with the Museum of Sex, the Soho store will offer products from the Museum’s gift shop, including Taschen books, ‘aphrodisiac apothecary herbs’ and sex games. Some of Pornhub’s most popular actresses will also be making appearances during the month.

    “As an online brand, we’ve been limited to interacting with our fans on the site and through social media,” said Pornhub’s VP Corey Price, explaining the strategy behind the store.

    “As we continue to increase brand awareness and expand into new verticals like retail, we are looking for new ways to interact with our fans. We thought it would be great to open up a store where fans can come check out the recent streetwear pieces we’ve collaborated on and some of our product lines,” he said.

    The store will feature products from two of Pornhub’s latest partnerships: a line of streetwear by the clothing brand, Richardson, which includes reissues from their fall line and two new designs; and the Pornhub couple’s sex-toy line from Ann Summers. The Pornhub store will also carry its own products such as limited Pornhub clothing inspired by the iconic Pornhub logo, including both men and women’s clothing; the Adult Coloring Book; and branded gear from content partners Brazzers and Team Skeet.

    The space Pornhub is occupying on Soho’s Wooster St was previously home to Thai-American fashion designer Thakoon Panichgul. Neighbours include such brands as Moschino and Celine

    Casey described the site as “an exceptional location” for Pornhub’s retail debut. The space has been reconfigured to simulate the look and feel of the Pornhub homepage, including a bed inside where people are invited to sit and “interact” with the camera on a live-feed streaming onto Pornhub.com directly. Visitors to the store must be aged 18 or over.

     

  • Hula is going offline for pop-up in Soho

    Hula is going offline for pop-up in Soho

    Online marketplace Hula is launching a pop-up shopping experience, The Living Room, at Kong Art Space in Soho from November 28 to December 3.

    Founded last year by Sarah Fung, Hula offers curated pre-owned designer womenswear at prices up to 95 per cent off retail. Sellers are by-invitation-only industry “insiders”.

    A graduate of Central St Martins, Fung has had more than 20 years in the fashion industry, previously designing her own lingerie and swim label in the UK (stocked at Colette, Browns Focus and Selfridges) followed by a nine-year stint at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong.

    Hula’s mission is to prolong the life of well-designed fashion pieces and help reduce textile waste. It offers 5 per cent of its profits to partnered charities ranging from environmental to human-trafficking NGOs.

    Not just an online boutique, Hula is a sustainable fashion community where members can consign items they no longer need. For its first venture offline, its pop-up is an intimate space inspired by a living room and offering pieces from such brands as Alaia, Alexander McQueen, Celine, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Ellery, Givenchy, Gucci, Hermes, Prada, Saint Laurent and Stella McCartney.

    On its upper level The Living Room will initially host private appointments, but open to the public for its last two days. The ground level will feature a photography exhibition by art director and sustainable fashion advocate Gloria Yu.

    As part of the event, Hula will host a discussion panel about sustainability and style. Panelists include Carlo Imo (head of Kering Asia Pacific), Justine Lee (fashion director at Hong Kong Tatler) and Christina Dean (founder of Redress), with Bloomberg Asia anchor Angie Lau as moderator.

    Charitable giving from the six-day pop-up will go to Redress, an environmental NGO working to reduce waste in the fashion industry which has just held a clothing drive in conjunction with Miele Hong Kong.

  • Bershka SoHo pop-up covers two floors

    Bershka SoHo pop-up covers two floors

    Everything in New York always seems bigger than in real life – even the definition of a pop-up store…

    An 8180sqft Bershka SoHo pop-up which opened its doors this week at 580 Broadway covers two stories of a previously empty retail space. The store is intended to boost the Inditex brand’s image in the US, where it launched an e-commerce platform six months ago.

    Bershka chose the heart of SoHo, one of the world’s most emblematic fashion districts, as the location, where it will trade until the end of the year, displaying all of Bershka’s FW17 collections – Bershka, Bsk and Man, as well as the sports lines, Start Moving, for young men and women.

    Features of the store include leading initiatives to be as eco-efficient as possible, guided by the Leed sustainable building criteria. Additionally, within the store, the Bershka Stage store image has guided all of the furniture and decoration designs. The layout has been similarly adapted for the store space specifically and with the US consumer in mind, offering the trendiest current looks, complete with accessories and footwear.

    Bershka Stage is the latest store design concept being rolled out internationally.

    “Inspired by the world of music concerts and what goes on behind the scenes, the Stage aesthetic epitomises Bershka’s DNA: music, fashion and youth,” the company said. “The result is an interior design that is industrial yet airy, with open ceilings that reveal the establishments’ skeletons. The structure is framed by truss scaffolding that runs around its entire perimeter and is used to hang the lighting, speakers and some of the screens that make up the whole look..

    “The Stage concept facilitates the shopping experience by means of more user-friendly and versatile furniture and fittings, making it easier to get around the store and providing a better way of displaying the brand’s garments and, by extension, each season’s new looks.”

    Bershka has 1098 stores in 75 markets across Europe, the Americas and Asia. The brand is forging ahead with an international expansion strategy that has been marked by high-profile openings in recent years in markets such as China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, along with flagship store openings on some of the world’s most important shopping streets, including Oxford Street, London, Via Vittorio Emanuele, Milan, Nanjing East, Shanghai, Gran Vía, Madrid, Rue Rivoli, Paris, and Shibuya, Tokyo.

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  • This Soho property boss is “on a mission” to make China town less Chinese

    This Soho property boss is “on a mission” to make China town less Chinese

    China town is getting a revamp – and it’s going to become less Chinese.

    Speaking to City A.M., the chief executive of Shaftesbury – which owns 3.2 acres of land in Chinatown – said there are too many Cantonese restaurants in China town, and he hopes to attract more varied set of restaurateurs to the heart of London.

    “We’re on a mission to bring more variety to China town – make it more pan-Asian,” CEO Brian Bickell said. “But we probably couldn’t think of a new name for it.”

    Some restaurants are also finding it difficult to bring in chefs from mainland China because of the government’s point-based immigration system, Bickell said.

    Shaftesbury is undertaking a major redevelopment scheme in area, and is talking to restaurateurs in Asia about setting up shop in the UK for the first time. Bicknell says the company is seeking out new dining brands and concepts from overseas, and wants to steer clear of the big chains that can be found on every high street in the UK.

    The development, anticipated to finish mid-2017, will open up 32,000 sq ft of retail space on Charing Cross Road and 13,500 sq ft of restaurant space facing Newport Place and Newport Court – which will become part-pedestrianised. The £14.6m scheme will benefit from the Crossrail station opening on Tottenham Court Road.

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  • M1 launches 1Gbps fiber bundle for SOHOs

    M1 launches 1Gbps fiber bundle for SOHOs

    Singapore’s M1 has launched a range of bundled fiber and business communications plans tailored for small and home offices.

    The company’s new SOHO Fibre Broadband plan includes a symmetrical 1Gbps fiber connection as well as business services including web and e-mail hosting, unified communications and fixed voice services.

    M1 is marketing the service towards Singaporean entrepreneurs seeking to start and grow a business from home. SOHO stands for small office/home office.

    The service is priced at S$59 ($43.75) per month on a 24 month contract. This price also includes a 300Mbps mobile broadband service.

    In Malaysia meanwhile, Telekom Malaysia has added a 100Mbps connection option for its Unifi broadband services.

    The company is offering a 100Mbps downlink 50Mbps uplink plan bundled with IPTV, OTT video subscriptions and 600 minutes of free calls. The operator has also introduced a 100Mbps business broadband option.

    But the plans come at a hefty price of 299 ringgit ($77.37) per month for the consumer option and 379 ringgit per month for the business plan. This is a promotional price which will rise to 329 ringgit and 399 ringgit respectively after June 30.

    By comparison, rival Time charges 299 ringgit for a 500Mbps plan, but also has a far smaller coverage area.

  • India’s Bindaas restaurant opens in Hong Kong

    India’s Bindaas restaurant opens in Hong Kong

    Indian restaurant operator Mayo Hospitality HK Limited has opened its first outlet in Hong Kong – Bindaas restaurant.

    The Indian tapas bar and restaurant, its full name Bindaas – Bar + Kitchen – marks a plan to use Hong Kong to leverage the city’s favourable location to expand its business in the broader Asia region.

    Located at the corner of Hollywood Road and Aberdeen St in the Soho area, Bindaas – Bar + Kitchen offers a modern style of traditional Indian food alongside craft cocktails and fine wines.

    Mayo plans to open more restaurants in the city before expanding into the Mainland market, according to Bindaas MD Sanat Patel, who has won prestigious Times Food Awards twice for his restaurants in India.

    “Indian tapas is getting famous in India but we can’t find a similar place in Hong Kong. Doing business in Hong Kong is very easy and efficient, so that is also why we decided to start our first venture in the city to introduce our new food culture,” said Patel.

    “Hong Kong has a very large expat base and people here love dining and entertainment. The restaurant and bar scene in the city is thriving. Also, it is close to the huge food and beverage markets in the Mainland. Therefore, Hong Kong is the ideal starting point for us to develop our business.”

    Associate director-general of investment promotion Dr Jimmy Chiang said with Hong Kong renowned as “the culinary capital of Asia” with a large number of international and Mainland Chinese visitors, it is an ideal place to showcase and develop exciting food and beverage concepts like Bindaas.

    “We wish Bindaas – Bar + Kitchen every success in the city.”

    “Bindaas” is Hindi slang meaning “chilled out and carefree”. Bindaas restaurant uses the “bindaas” style to provide traditional Indian food with a unique contemporary twist. Its signature dishes include NaanZa, which is an Indian version of pizza, Chingri Malai curry, Boti kabab, Bindaas tandoor chicken and cocktails like the Kala Khatta margarita, the Sheikh Chili and more.