Ben: We try to treat everything [at the store] like we’re stylish Margaret Meads. It’s that idea of what does the average client eat, and when do they eat, and where do they go to dinner? What are they doing on Saturdays? Is it in a ballgown or in athleisure? These things are so important. And you know how it is: It’s that weird thing of one season you go, ‘Oh God—what was I thinking: high waisted pants?!’ And a year later, everyone’s coming in and saying, ’Do you have any high-waisted pants?”
Chris: We constantly analyze not only what went out the door, but what stayed in the dressing room. [As retailers] our real estate has to be about excitement—so we constantly have to think about what is exciting to the person walking into MAC.
Ben: New ideas: That’s the driver. So much of that is the story—of fresh faces, of fresh silhouettes, sometimes—that you’re like, ’Okay—I have stuff but I want something new.’ You want to put on a new thought. That has meant for us in the store: no more oldies—just really good clothes, really exciting and successful clothes that can go anywhere, and which can be worn every day. It has been interesting to see the curve of consuming post-Covid. We found, during Covid, that all you could sell was wildly cozy, something that you could do the crossword puzzle in bed with. And then [post-Covid] suddenly we found there was this great leap towards going out, so we sold a lot of clothes to go out in: celebratory, something to up the ante.
Chris: Now, in 2024, we’re finding a settling in. Before, people had come out of the pandemic saying, I don’t know what I need; I don’t know where my clothes go; I don’t know where I’m at. We saw the same scenario after 9/11, when suddenly people felt changed, and they felt that they needed to think about who they were. This year we found there wasn’t the need to check in: People really began to think about what clothes would mean something to them every day.
Ben: That’s why we found people like Sophie D’Hoore, who makes fantastic basics, but they’re unusual—she did well for us. We’ve gone through a period of minimalism, and not to get all Margaret Mead, but if ever there was a time that you have to think about what you stand for, it is now. It’s all about expression, which has led to this feeling of wanting to be a very free spirit, more so than before—that attitude of I’ll wear whatever I goddamn please. We are certainly going forward [as a store] with the idea of being more free-minded: The rules are meant to be broken. It’s the Lynn Yaeger approach: You love that skirt so much? Well, wear two! Truthfully, that has actually always been our approach, because we sell both men’s and women’s clothes, and things are kind of mixed-up here. Sometimes a guy would pick up a cashmere V-neck sweater and say, “Is this a man’s, or woman’s?” And our answer has always been, “Flip it over and check the genitalia!” I mean, it’s a V-neck sweater!
