Future presents: FutureHIVE
Summer Sixteeen, Soho NYC
WWD.com:
"Future Opens New York Pop-Up Shop"
Concert merchandise pop-ups have become commonplace and successful for artists including Kanye West and Justin Bieber, who recently brought the concept to Barneys New York.
But Fancy, a social shopping site, and rapper Future wanted to elevate that experience with his New York City pop-up, called Future Hive, which will be open from Tuesday to Aug. 8 — Future’s “Summer Sixteen” tour with Drake also hits Manhattan next week.
“What we wanted to do is create an experience for the fans,” said Marcus Howard, head of business at Fancy. “We’ve seen what everyone has done with the standard pop-up and they are essentially glorified merchandise stands. We want people to come in and feel like it’s Future’s space and offer a high-quality retail experience.”
The pop-up, which will be located at 76 Wooster Street, will feature an art gallery, VIP lounge and a retail space that have all been designed with help from Future. The shop will carry Future’s latest Freebandz apparel collection, along with pieces from some of Fancy’s top-selling brands including John Varvatos, Pintrill, streetwear line Cease and Desist and leather accessories company Moreca.
Future has worked with some of these brands to design limited-edition pieces. For example, he collaborated with Varvatos on a leather motorcycle jacket that’s been customized by Adam Bohemond — it will retail at $2,498 — and Moreca custom designed a leather weekend bag that will retail at $1,700. The bag includes a hang tag that reads “Always Secure the Bag,” a popular phrase often used by DJ Khaled, which Future uses on “I Got the Keys,” his song with Jay Z and the Snapchat star. Pintrill has also produced an exclusive Future pin for the shop.
According to Howard, Fancy has partnered with musicians and brands like Hermès, but this is its first time working on an artist’s pop-up.
“It really boils down to, fans want to feel what the emotion of their favorite artist is and we don’t want people to go in and buy the T-shirt and go out,” Howard told WWD. “We want them to spend time here and tell their friends about it. You are discovering things about Future that you might not get from a merchandise stand.”
For his tour, which started last week, Future teamed with streetwear brand Tackma to create a few looks. He also wears pieces from Siki Im, John Elliott, John Varvatos and Rick Owens.
