PHOTOS BY NWDS
After years of working a slew of profitable Pittsburgh eating places, amongst them Muddy Waters Oyster Bar, Hen on the Run and Kahuna, alongside her husband, Adam, Diana Kucenic was able to dip her toes into one thing else — and it had nothing to do with meals.
It needed to do with vogue.
“Shifting to Pittsburgh, I adore it right here, it’s nice, however I at all times felt like one thing was missing,” she says.
Final November, the Kucenics mushy launched TONS, a luxurious vogue and life-style retailer, in a former design atelier alongside Baum Boulevard in East Liberty. After spending the winter getting the shop prepared, TONS held a grand opening close to the top of April.
“We have been ending up with the furnishings and the manufacturers arriving over time,” Kucenic says. “We really feel like we’re fully prepared now.”
Kucenic, who grew up in Russia and as soon as labored as a purchaser for her mom’s vogue shops, says she needed to convey an elevated industrial expertise to Pittsburgh. Apart from an assortment of luxurious, modern and streetwear manufacturers similar to Zits Studios, Jil Sander, Marni, Coperni and Mastermind, TONS carries magnificence merchandise, dwelling decor and different life-style objects — together with yoga mats, dwelling fragrances, items and space rugs — at a wide range of value factors.
“We commonly have interaction with folks from Google, CMU and Duolingo and we needed to supply the folks of Pittsburgh a neighborhood vacation spot for vogue,” Kucenic says. “Many individuals that we talk with shared that they depend on touring to NYC or Los Angeles when desirous to replace their closets with the newest collections, and TONS is right here to unravel that.”
As soon as inside, the two-story house is as hanging because the merchandise.The Kucenics tapped NWDS, a world crew of architects, to design the idea retailer’s opulent inside, which blends vogue, artwork and tradition. For instance, there are imported Italian items, similar to a Paradoxical Hello-Tech armchair by Piero Lissoni, a Mate chair by (a+b) dominoni and glass objects by Glas Italia. Giant-scale artworks by Alexander Brodsky are hung all through the constructing.
Combining consumer and work areas, TONS’ consumers and managers have their desks parked subsequent to the sale rails on the primary ground; company are also welcome to take a peek on the vogue photograph shoots occurring on the second degree. Kucenic says the shop’s format was impressed by retailers similar to Colette, a excessive vogue, streetwear and accent retailer identified for its spacious idea retailer in Paris.
“There’s a little bit little bit of all the pieces right here, actually,” she says. “We strive to verify everybody who enters the shop can discover one thing for themselves.”
TONS is also collaborating with NWDS on a line of furnishings that may mirror the textures and prints discovered all through the shop. Kucenic says she is ending particulars on the road, additionally known as TONS, which shall be produced within the nation of Georgia. As soon as accomplished, the items shall be obtainable within the retailer and worldwide, she says.
The shop additionally teamed up with Los Angeles-based model BTFL Studio for a “Metropolis of Bridges”-inspired capsule assortment that includes a graphic tee and interchangeable lengthy sleeve tee with a 1914 blueprint for the bridge from the Monongahela bridge firm, a hand-painted, natural recycled cotton hoodie, worn carpenter shorts, a black leather-based catch-all, a journey blanket and a vegetable-tanned leather-based vest. Pittsburgh Steelers defensive again Tre Norwood stars within the vogue shoot devoted to the road.
Kucenic provides collaborating with manufacturers on customized and unique capsule collections is a focused purpose for TONS that additionally consists of amplifying younger vogue and artwork creatives. Already, the shop has hosted Carnegie Mellon College college students for a three-day pop-up as part of the college’s Lunar Gala present. Pittsburgh Steelers free agent linebacker Marcus Allen additionally held a popup occasion on the retailer for his clothes model, Vibes Common, on June 3.
“The help from skilled and collegiate athletes all throughout the tri-state space has been overwhelming,” Kucenic says. “We’ve watched Pittsburgh transition from a metal and coal city, to an modern metropolis thriving in expertise and well being care. The identical is going on with Pittsburgh vogue, and we’re blissful to be on the forefront of this motion.”