Lately capsule collections are so common that mentioning them (yawn) can be a little...er...common. They also seem to debut with a relatively small amount of fanfare, which is why, we suppose, this whole Urban collaboration with Yael Aflalo and Chi Bui (of Love By Yaya and The Reformation) could've come and gone and we may not have, gasp, gotten anything before it flew out.
Thankfully, it's not the case. We're coming to you post cyber-spree and we report, however ubiquitous capsules are, Urban is really on the ball these days as far as recruiting some rather stellar designers. The Reformation, which only opened up this past spring on Ludlow street (the shop has another outpost in LA which opened over the winter) is one of our favorite shopping destinations for their brilliantly re-worked vintage pieces at rather affordable prices. Not only is Reformed by The Reformation being offered but also a second capsule called Nom De Plume Yaya, is also available, both designed and developed by Aflalo and Bui.
Reformed is pretty true to the key design elements of The Reformation: fringe (by way of black vest), open cut-out back (on one of our favorite dresses in the collection) and racerback tanks.
Nom De Plume Yaya includes lots of florals and a machine washable motorcycle jacket which appears shrunken to perfection. Prices range between $58.00 for silk racerbacks to $98.00 for a silk printed dress. We love that Urban is looking towards under the radar labels to represent in their stores OR, shall we say, accepting offers (?).
Surprisingly, according to their blog, it was in fact, Aflalo that approached them. She stated: "I love Urban Outfitters, it's one of the stores that I shop at ... I called a friend that works in sales and said 'We need to get into Urban Outfitters.' "
