Every other Thursday, The FADER asks employees and employers at our favorite shops around the world what their most cherished in-store item is for our column Staff Affections. This week, Liz Raiss caught up with Lucy Blair Akin, of Los Angeles-based online shop Super Street, and spoke with her about Yung Taco of Odd Future's hot pink boxers.
Can you talk a little bit about your background and how Super Street was conceptualized and founded? I was the head buyer for the store Satine in LA for the last three years. So I kind of hit my glass ceiling there and it was time for my next step and I really wanted to do my own thing. Super Street came about from what I thought was such a lack of representation of skateboard brands within the e-commerce market for women. Skateboard brands like Palace were in the press but you couldn’t find them anywhere online. That was my initial idea, but I didn’t want to leave my background in high fashion, so I decided to mix the two and came up with the high-low concept.
So how has the reaction to your store been? Everyone’s been very supportive, I would say people are excited about it. They definitely think it’s a new concept, the way we mix brands; I think because it’s a really fresh take on what’s happening in fashion now. I’m definitely finding new and cool brands but mixing it with the classic stuff that’s been around for a while.
How do you source your clothing? Totally seasonal. I’m still on the buying schedule. Though for the skateboard stuff that’s more on an as needed basis; they don’t work on a seasonal calendar. But I’m sourcing from Moschino, I just added Kenzo Resort, which I’m really excited about. And then there’s the Odd Future stuff, which I’m really amped about for the website.
How did you end up stocking the Taco Boxers? I had the guys come through the office to check out everything I was doing and they really liked everything on the site. They have such a good eye for fashion it really blows my mind. They just played around with the goods for the afternoon and we had so much fun. Afterward, I told them I want their stuff on the site and it ended up happening within a week or so.
Do you want to talk a little bit about the boxers themselves? The boxers are named after one of the guys in Odd Future, Yung Taco. And I just love that they’re pink and have tacos on them. L.A. is a total taco culture and they just came together in this way I was really excited about. They could totally be pajamas, they could be a gift, they can just be boxers. I've never seen men take more risks than the OF crew. They’re very fashion forward dudes. I think Left Brain showed up in a pair of leather overalls. I just love their line!
