Rebecca Hessel Cohen, LoveShackFancy Founder Interview
After much anticipation in the Resident community, LoveShackFancy has officially opened its Manhasset, New York storefront.
Located in the center of 2028 Northern Blvd, the beautiful womenswear and girl clothing store is full of florals and pastels. With custom, elegant moldings on blush pink walls, wood-paneled floors, and LoveShackFancy’s heirloom floral wallpaper on the ceiling. Charming elements like French doors, a vintage cash register, and pink couches with fringe and velvet give the store a feminine yet elevated feel.
Since its inception, LoveShackFancy has gained a dedicated following and garnered international and generational appeal, with loyal consumers spanning from Alpha to Gen X.
As they open their seventeenth location worldwide, our Creative Director, Isabella Uribe, got the chance to interview Rebecca Hessel Cohen, Founder & Creative Director, of LoveShackFancy, to discuss the opening of the new store in New York and how she stays true to her roots while growing internationally. We learned more about their business model and how the store focuses primarily as a space to sell its line of products; but also offers the opportunity to work with clients who want to do pop-up stores or collaborate on other design work.
Resident: What are the design inspirations?
Hessel: For this store, we stayed true to our classic LoveShackFancy romance and tradition with our signature blush pinks and endless florals all over. As a new store in our home state of New York, we tried to keep this store very classic, feminine, and whimsical.
Resident: Describe your creative process from start to finish (i.e. how you brainstorm ideas, what steps you take)
Hessel: Our initial inspiration for each store is the location it is based. We want our stores to feel authentic to the location they are with the Loveshackfancy twist. What makes that location/city special? Depending on the location and initial inspiration, the store architecture is developed accordingly. From custom moldings inspired by French hotels as seen in our Manhasset store to intricate latticework inspired by Palm Beach mansions as seen in our Coconut Grove store.
Resident: What are some of the unique challenges and opportunities of opening a retail location?
Hessel: Opening a retail location is challenging, but one of the most rewarding experiences. From scouting locations to find the perfect home, to sourcing the vintage furniture to working with our architects to bring our vision to life. It’s always a long, hard-working process, but so worth it once the store opens and seeing so many people from our LoveShackFancy community coming together in one place.
Resident: How will this store be different from other stores in the same industry?
Hessel: When it comes to our stores, we love to pull inspiration from the city we’re in and add special localized elements to each to tailor them to their location to make them each unique. For Manhasset specifically, we’ve added more elements to make this store an all-encompassing brand experience like we have a special seating area for dressing, appointments, etc. We also have intricate shelving to showcase our home collection which we don’t typically have everywhere. We also have sourced vintage French doors and other furniture that makes this boutique super special.
Resident: Tell me about your favorite product that you’ve created so far.
Hessel: My favorite product we’ve created so far is probably our Ruffle Mini or Skirt or our Natasha Dress! They were some of our first pieces that customers really resonated with and they’re forever pieces that we’ll always have and are constantly evolving.
Resident: What is the number one thing you want customers to feel when they walk into your store?
Hessel: When someone walks into our stores we want them to feel like they’re in a fairytale coming to life. We want them to feel excited, empowered, and ready to dress up. It’s a total girl world and we want it to be a truly magical experience for everyone who comes through.
Resident: What are the future goals for Loveshackfancy?
Hessel: We have so many hopes for the future, one is to expand in menswear! We always have so many people asking about men’s clothes and we’d love to see our guys walking around in our florals.
Resident: How do you feel about collaborating with other creatives inside and outside of Loveshackfancy?
Hessel: I love collaborating! We do so many collabs with other brands and try to tap into new spheres that our customers love and that we feel align really well with our brands and our values.
Rebecca Hessel Cohen, LoveShackFancy Founder Interview, exclusive coverage by Resident Team