Montréal-based outerwear brand, Kanuk, announces the opening of its inaugural US store in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood on November 23, 2021. The New York location at 75 Greene Street will be the brand’s first standalone boutique outside of its Quebec home.
For more than 50 years, Kanuk has been designing and creating outerwear conceived to protect against extreme weather conditions. Sustainable by design, the iconic Montréal-based brand is renowned for quality and durability, and each style comes with a lifetime guarantee. Since its humble beginnings, Kanuk’s original boutique and workshop have stood the test of time alongside the brand’s unbeatable craftsmanship. The brand only recently decided to expand internationally, and it has already garnered the attention of world-renowned retailers, including SSENSE and United Arrows, amongst others. Kanuk’s expansion to the US is a natural next step. To pay tribute to Kanuk’s storied past and beloved heritage, the New York store is designed to reflect the Montréal spirit by blending the brand’s legacy together with its continued evolution.
“Kanuk has locally handcrafted its coats for over 50 years. Today, we are thrilled to announce that we are one step closer towards bringing meticulous Canadian craftsmanship to a truly international market,” said Richard Laniel, President, Kanuk. “Our new SoHo store is an exciting new chapter in our evolution from a small outerwear manufacturer to a global Canadian brand. A reinvented neighbourhood centred on arts, fashion and impressive architecture, SoHo closely mirrors Kanuk’s outwear staples with an edge, and we are thrilled to have found a new home on Greene Street.”
Designed by the award-winning architecture studio Atelier Barda, the space (4,000 ft²) lends itself to a sensory experience that evokes an urban utopia emblematic of Montreal’s winter climate. Upon arrival, visitors will enter through a narrow passageway anchored by a free-standing altar as they gravitate towards the main shopping section. The white-domed room showcasing Kanuk’s collections is illuminated by punctual and controlled lighting created by New York-based Derek Porter studio and James Clotfelter Lighting Design in collaboration with Atelier Barda. Inspired by the art installations of Doug Wheeler and James Turell, the use of light blurs the boundaries of architecture, creating the illusion of the coats being suspended around the room. The fitting rooms’ full-height monochrome curtains complete the visitor experience.
“Inspired by Montreal’s retro-cult character, the team of designers drew from the idealistic vision of the 60s and 70s that transformed the urban face of Montreal at that time and still inhabits the city today,” explains Cécile Combelle Co-Founder, Atelier Barda. “The tension between utopia and nostalgia was something we wanted to explore in order to design a space that freely reinterprets Kanuk’s history as much as its current evolution.”
Kanuk’s New York boutique will debut the brand’s Fall/Winter 2021 Core Collection of outerwear styles. The collection weaves together the brand’s mastery of winter warmth with modern, edgy designs, ranging from functional puffers in micro-floral prints to insulated parkas in neon citrus hues. Shoppers will also be able to discover exclusive styles at the location. In addition, the store will offer Kanuk’s first transitional collection for milder weather that just launched this fall.
Kanuk has been quietly introducing eco-innovations to their collections with a considered approach, authentic to the brand. As of 2022, Kanuk will fully withdraw from fur, which has been a gradual process out of respect to the resource. In addition, today, more than 50% of the collection is made with recycled fabrics, and the brand is committed to increasing the percentage.
