While everyone's been scoping out Google's recently-launched fashion site this morning, we've been checking out the newly-launched Of a Kind, which also made its debut this morning. The site not only owns the distinction of being Tumblr's first store, it also operates under the very unique concept of offering small-batch, exclusively-commissioned clothing and accessories by up-and-coming designers, combined with the added element of editorial content telling fashion followers and potential buyers about them.
One designer is featured each week, with stories and highlights posted on Monday and Tuesday, followed by the release of an exclusive item in numbered editions of five to 50 pieces (prices will range from $5 to $500). It's like taking the Hershey's chocolate factory tour and walking way with a handful of Kisses—only much, much better.
Of a Kind's debut item and designer this week is Mandy Coon's adorably chic (and utterly quirky) bunny-shaped bag in tweed with leather accents, to be followed next week by a limited-edition piece from Lizzie Fortunato Jewels. Dusen Dusen and Symmetry Goods are also on the lineup, we're told. "We sought out Mandy Coon because we felt like her pieces really stood out—they're moody but whimsical, dark but not heavy," says the site's co-founder Erica Cerulo. "You can see the influence of the other careers she had—model, DJ, etc.—in her clothes. Then, we just totally fell in love with the bunny bag. It's such a stand-out piece, unlike so many very classic 'It' bags you see everywhere."
Cerulo, who conceived Of a Kind—"over the course of 25 frantic emails in 12 hours"—with her friend Claire Mazur, lends her editorial expertise from her days at Lucky and Details magazines to the project. "Coming from a magazine background helped me to think about all the different ways you could tell a designer's story," she says. Truly, this is one of the coolest applications of "know before you buy" that we've seen yet.
