Just One Eye is not your typical e-tailer. For starters, their brick-and-mortar flagship stands in the mazelike Hollywood compound where Howard Hughes used to live, work, and seduce movie stars. But really, it’s their product selection that makes them so extraordinary. Where else could you find a Warhol-signed Rolling Stones necktie tee, some Carlo Bugatti chairs, and a range of antique fine jewelry alongside looks from Rodarte, Proenza Schouler, Olympia Le-Tan, and Maiyet? Since opening the store last spring, co-founder Paola Russo (formerly of Maxfield) has focused on mixing fashion and art. And we mean big-time art. Ed Ruscha has been collaborating in various ways since the shop’s launch. Work by Murakami, among others, hangs on the walls at headquarters. And today, the shop is launching the first in an ongoing series of artist/designer collaborations, debuting a limited-edition range of Damien Hirst-decorated backpacks from The Row.
According to Russo, Just One Eye’s interest in commissioning these projects comes from the store’s mandate to create “specialness.” “Our vision,” she explains, “is to make and sell things that will last. We don’t want to be involved with mass-produced fads,” she says. “Real luxury is something that is timeless and exceptional.” Naturally, true luxury comes with a hair-raising price tag. Or, in the case of the backpacks, which ring in at a cool $55,000, a gasp-worthy one. But it helps to know that some of that cash will go to a good cause. A portion of the proceeds from the bags will be donated to UNICEF; ditto Just One Eye’s next, more cost-democratic collaboration, which will see Nate Lowman teaming up with Converse. “He’s painting 25 pairs,” says Russo. “So the question for the people who buy these shoes will be, you know, do you wear them, or keep them as art?” A question many of us have posed about our shoes. But not typically of our sneakers.
—Maya Singer
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