Shop of the Week: Rogan

By Rebecca Prusinowski

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Over eight years ago, at the dimly lit corner of Bowery and Bond, I stood waiting outside the Bouwerie Lane Theater for King Edward and Queen Anne. The Cocteau Repertory had just staged another brazen performance of Bertolt Brecht’s tragic play Edward II inside, and a looming school assignment required a few quick questions with the actors. The nighttime quiet was unsettling and there were more rats than people on Bond’s uneven cobblestone street. Their shadows appeared eerily large against the cast iron façade of the Theater. After more waiting and a drug deal scuffle down the block, I split.

Aaaand scene.

Today that corner is bustling with activity and pedestrian traffic. No word on when Edward and Anne left the building, but there’s currently a new star at the Bouwerie Lane Theater: Rogan. On the tails of his CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award and smashing Target collaboration, the designer Rogan Gregory has opened his second New York store inside the landmark building. And it is dramatic. Painted entirely black with empty walls and a single suspended lighting-fixture made of spotlights that descend like tentacles from the rafters high above, the space is a deliberate homage to its former life as a theater. The lighting and mirrored mezzanine amplify the raw backstage design; clothing is indeterminately highlighted or shadowed mysteriously, and rainbow prisms cast over a white pleated neck blouse made it look downright ethereal.

Lined with both men’s and women’s wear, one long clothing rack stretches along the right side of the store with two smaller segments extending perpendicularly. Though the color palette of the clothing is mostly limited to black, white and gray, the patterns, cuts and silk-screened slogans are all quite vivid. Short-shorts, cardigans, blouses and dresses range from $60-400 for the ladies, and the “slim dazzle” and “caldwell rosen” skinny jeans are showstoppers. For the men, Rogan has sweatshirts, tees, shorts, buttondowns and jeans of assorted fabrics and stitching. There are also a handful of accessories, such as hats, ties, and totes, but emphasis is on solid wardrobe pieces.

To both the store’s design and its forward-thinking eco-friendly collections therein, we applaud you Rogan… Bravo!

Rogan, 330 Bowery, (646) 827-7567

Posted May. 8, 2008,

Eight Items or Less: No Age the Dopeness, Shepard Fairey Not Blind and Hudson Terrace Ready to Go

By Gary Pini

1. In case you missed both of their New York shows this week, you can catch the brilliant L.A. art/punk duo No Age at the South Street Seaport on July 11. And it's free! "They thrill by purposeful happenstance." - New York Times

2. Shepard Fairey is not going blind. The artist, who is diabetic, has had multiple surgeries to repair damaged blood vessels in both eyes and says he's now "all good." (via animalnewyork.com)

3. The Red Hook IKEA opens June 18.

4. Hudson Terrace, the $3 million nightclub that was set to open last fall, is apparently ready to go. Sean McGarr and Michael Sinensky's 4,000 sq. ft. space at 621 W. 46th St. is previewing tonight. We heard last night that another long awaited club, Santa's Party House, is opening for a very private party this week.

5. Seven Nevada high school students shot a documentary about New York rockers Sonic Youth and it's screening at the 10th CineVegas Film Festival in June. (via dailyswarm.com)

6. We love the new Rogan store at 330 Bowery. It's in the old Bouwerie Lane Theater where they have uncovered all the windows on the south side, painted everything black and hung a lighting grid with 20 pin-spots from the center of the ceiling. They wanted to mirror all the windows, but couldn't because the building is landmarked.

Posted Jun. 29, 2007,

Bar of the Week: R Bar

By PAPERMAG Editors

Across the street from the famous and historic Bowery Mission, a different breed of supplicant tends to gather. For these more fortunate parishioners, a $10 cocktail is a sacrament, and R Bar, the newest installation on the ever more glittery Bowery, is happy to oblige. The atmosphere is equal parts Francophilic decadence and punkish swagger. Crystal chandeliers dangle above the bar and sparkle against the red velvet walls, but the paintings and photos of Debbie Harry, Mick Jagger and friends remind the demimonde that CBGB was, after all, just down the block. The house cocktail, the White Stripe (an unlikely mix of Ketel One, Tequila Rose, Baileys, grenadine, and milk finished off with a peppermint stick, $10), may put you in mind of childhood amoxicillin, but for more standard fare, the bartenders are happy to pour out generous doses and even a stray flute or two of champagne. No one could mistake R Bar for a Bowery flophouse or dive, but reserve the private back room, outfitted with its own full bar and four gleaming stripper�s poles, and you�ll be reminded that, dress it up however you may, the spirit of the old Bowery is alive and well. Turns out you really can go home again. 218 Bowery, (212) 334-0484. Matthew Schneier

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