When Thakoon Panichgul launched his HommeGirls zine in the spring of 2019 he told Vogue, “there’s a lot of loudness [in fashion], and what I want to get back to is instinct. The way to do that is to stay grounded to what I feel excited by.” In the six years since, HommeGirls has become much more than a zine. Clothes, which Panichgul originally conceived as merch and sold DTC, came in the fall of 2019, and there’s been a string of collabs with brands including Kith, Vans, and Nike. In early 2023, Panichgul and co. landed Kylie Jenner, playing against type, for their Volume 9 cover.
As HommeGirls has grown so has its influence, but staying grounded is still the name of the game as Panichgul opens the first-ever HommeGirls storefront on Walker Street in Chinatown, a couple of blocks from its office on Broadway. Designed by Rafael de Cárdenas, Ltd, the tiny 250-square-foot space has exactly one clothing rack—in the form of a dry cleaner garment conveyor (yes, it’s operational)—and a single valet stand from Italy. The only decor is floor-to-ceiling mirrors, which produce a mesmerizing infinity effect, polished marble tiles nodding to the clothes’ Made in Italy bona fides, and a magazine display. The current issue—you can’t call it a zine, after all, with ads from Prada, Chanel, Hermès, and more—boasts seven different print covers, Blackpink’s Jennie, Shygirl, and Natasha Lyonne among them.
“I don’t want it to just be a retail store open all the time,” says Panichgul of the new space. “It’s more of an outpost, an IRL expression for HommeGirls and what we stand for. There’s a lot of galleries already in this neighborhood, and I’m thinking in that mindset as well.”
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