Brand: nanamica

Season: Fall/Winter 2021

Buy: nanamica's New York flagship

Editor's Notes: Though New York isn't quite the shopping mecca it may have been in its heyday, there are still plenty of boutiques worth popping into both as a tourist or local. Case in point: nanamica's New York flagship, which opened in late August 2020.

Takes guts (or a death wish) to open a brick-and-mortar during a global pandemic but nanamica knows what it's doing.

Helmed by Eiichiro Homma, who also oversees Goldwin lines like The North Face Purple Label, nanamica is a veritable institution in Japan and is earning an international reputation for its reliable, wearable daily drivers. Doesn't hurt that cool-kid stylist Akio Hasegawa has overseen its recent seasonal imagery.

The New York outpost is nanamica's first dedicated American store, though it sells to various retailers across the country. It's hosted some of the final Western TNFPL drops but pretty much just sells nanamica now, though the recent nanamica x TNF collab might be in stock.

It's not officially a celebration of the store's first year in business but an exclusive Fall/Winter 2021 collection will soon arrive at nanamica NY — yet another reason to stop by.

A few nanamica classics appear here, all in hardy fabrics and boosted by subtle bits of high-end flair. Sounds like jargon but it's true: there's a field down jacket that looks like a basic harrington but actually has a water-repellant finish on the outside, a Coolmax lining, and Goldwin's Kodenshi down inside, which helps balance body temps even in brisk weather.

There's also a set of garment-dyed T-shirts and snap-button hoodies, which feature embroidery, oversized cuts, and artwork from illustrator Aki Ohnishi; I couldn't find a website for Aki but perhaps they prefer the low-key life, which I respect.

I mean, that's basically nanamica's appeal: it's good, low-key stuff. Like the Japanese TNFPL exclusives and much of The North Face Japan's output, nanamica's garments focus foremostly on thoughtful fabrication.