Daily Front Row

2013 February 15

Ladies, But Mostly Gents

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Josh Reed, Melissa Bolona, Chad White
Billy Farrell Agency View Gallery

What better week than NYFW for the official launch party of Josh Reed's new brand Gents? Actually, the fete was on the calendar for November, but was postponed after falling on the same week as Hurricane Sandy. Ladies and gents at the Gramercy Park Hotel on Wednesday night didn't seem to notice. Campaign models Melissa Bolona and Chad White welcomed a very "inside baseball" crowd including Prabal Gurung, Ted Stafford, Kristian Laliberte, Malcolm Carfrae, Dan Ragone, Matthew Marden, Jason Lord, Cory Bond, Flint Beamon, and J. Errico.

So, what's all this Gents business about, exactly? The brand officially launched with an upscale and custom baseball hat, and is now offfering v and crew neck t-shirts, long sleeve v-neck t-shirts, and beanies. "For three months in business, we've surpassed every expectation that we ever had," Reed told us. "The site is doing so well that we've decided to go into retail stores, which was never the plan. Plus, 40 percent of my customers are women!" Case in point: Zoe Saldana is a fan, and her recent appearance online wearing one of his hats exploded sales. So, was the former Calvin Klein flak enjoying his moment in the limelight? "It's extremely strange. I'm used to being on the other side of this. To have the entire Calvin team come out on the eve of their show to support me is huge. Malcolm [Carfrae] has been my mentor. I owe this to him!" Now, that's a gent.
EDDIE ROCHE