Moda Operandi Launches Trunk Present With Desert Classic and Ténéré

Moda Operandi has launched a curated trunk present of uncommon archival fashions with Tucson and New York Metropolis-based classic retailer Desert Classic. The trunk present additionally options kinds from Desert Classic's in-house model, Salima Boufelfel, co-owner and co-founder, and Roberto Cowan's in-house model, Ténéré, pre-fall 2025 assortment.

Though Moda Operandi already held two classic trunk exhibits in 2022 and 2023 with Tab Classic, this purchasing occasion marks the retailer's first partnership (as the primary world wholesale accomplice) with Desert Classic and Ténéré.

“I had been a long-time Desert Classic on-line buyer, and since Salima Boufelfel and Roberto Cowan opened their (fantastically designed) retailer in New York Metropolis, I've discovered myself within the Decrease East Facet greater than ever. They provide directional items from the final century by designers like Romeo Gigli, in addition to quite a lot of extremely distinctive finds, and their model at all times attracts me in,” stated Moda Operandi co-founder and model director Lauren Santo Domingo of Desert Classic, which was based in 1974 in Tucson, Arizona, and bought by Boufelfel and Cowan in 2012. The duo has since opened their second location in New York's Decrease East Facet neighborhood.

“Many designers look to Desert Classic for inspiration for their very own collections. The shop has been a secret to trend insiders till now – I at all times say, 'nothing is sweet till it's shared' – and I'm extremely excited for the Moda viewers to find one in every of my favourite sources for classic, together with its impeccable designs. elegant inside model, Teneré,” stated Santo Domingo.

The trunk present options quite a lot of distinctive and uncommon fashions spanning the 1920s to the 1990s, together with designs by artists reminiscent of Chanel, Alaïa, Paco Rabanne, Romeo Gigli, Halston and extra, with costs starting from $three,000 to the three,000 dollars. $6,000.

Relating to archival kinds, Boufelfel and Cowan advised WWD, “the Chanel Couture mohair cape that seems within the trunk present is extremely particular: It's the Chanel Creations model, from the 1970s, earlier than Lagerfeld. “Roberto obtained it from a Paris-based Chanel collector who has been growing his archive for over 25 years.”

The duo stated they’ve additionally at all times been drawn to Romeo Gigli, “whose spirit is similar to ours,” they stated. “His romanticism and poetic use of colour: the tones are at all times taken from the earth and pure parts, and by no means appear synthetic. We love the darkish brown velvet opera coat from the FW1989 assortment featured within the trunk present. It’s uncommon to discover a couture silhouette so effectively suited to a RTW assortment. The velvet is subtly embossed with a tonal star element that may solely be appreciated up shut or by the individual sporting it. . . a quiet and private luxurious.”

Different classic trend highlights inside the choice embody a multi-color belted costume with ornamental silk chiffon print by Chloé by Karl Lagerfeld; a 1976 Paco Rabanne Couture taffeta and flocked velvet opera cape, and a 1920s Fortuny hand-pleated Delphos costume with Venetian bead detailing, to call a number of.

Along with the archive charge, Ténéré's assortment options 20 of the model's pre-fall 2025 kinds obtainable for pre-order in sizes S/M and L/XL, with costs starting from $1,000 to $three,000.

Boufelfel, the model's artistic director, co-founded Ténéré in fall 2023 with the ethos of providing “a mix of class, natural magnificence and private heritage” by means of kinds that weave conventional strategies and pure fabrications (pre-fall consists of chiffon crinkled silk, silk georgettes, linen, cotton, linen-silk and cotton-silk tailoring) with “fashionable sensibilities” that complement classic kinds, Boufelfel stated.

Moreover, branding serves as a option to “create a whole and cohesive narrative that displays our imaginative and prescient for the corporate. “We wished the alternatives to really feel like a frequently unfolding story, the place each bit ties into the essence of Desert Classic and who we’re as a artistic workforce,” he stated.

Key pre-fall silhouettes embody the Lounes kaftan, a silk georgette model with godet detailing on the neck and hem with hand-embellished vintage glass beads; the Petra costume in crinkled chiffon with mother-of-pearl buttons; the bias camille costume (which the co-founders say is an entry-level priced costume that is available in 4 colours) and quite a lot of matching CDC silk and silk habotai units.