VFor many years, Daniel Steindorf has proven at Kleiner Hirschgraben in Frankfurt that as a retailer with exclusive brands, you can be successful even with a shop that can only be reached via a staircase on the first floor. The owner-managed shop for sneakers and sporty men’s fashion was known as Uebervart for a long time. After being taken over by streetware specialists Solebox, it became MBCY (pronounced “Embassy”). The temptation to slip under a financially strong roof – Solebox belongs to the Deichmann Group – was apparently too great. This has not harmed the concept, which with brands such as Comme des Garçons, Bathing Ape, Bode, Readymade and Aspesi is now much more progressive than in the beginning. Steindorf continues to swirl in the background as the responsible buyer.
The Kleiner Hirschgraben is now history. In March, the boutique moved to Kaiserstraße and opened a shop three times the size here on 230 square meters. The American chain American Apparel, which had to give up after bankruptcy in 2016, was a popular address for young, simple fashion there. Now there are salespeople with thick beards, necklaces and eye-catching tattoos behind the counter. However, that is not a criterion for recruitment, they say with a wink.
High prices for weird clothes
The mood in the shop is casual, the furnishings with walls and tables in the finest marble look. Cold drinks such as Spezi are available from the machines. Customers can look around undisturbed; they are usually men – only a few items are unisex, such as the Comme des Garçons fragrances.
The sneakers, which also include limited special models, are in a separate room at the back of the store. At the front, T-shirts, jackets and trousers are hung on the rail, sorted by brand. There’s a lot of weird stuff. For example jogging pants by Aries in a wild mix of knitwear and nylon. Customers who shop at MBCY are willing to pay 415 euros for such parts – or 933 euros for a jacket by the New York label Bode, on which many details are still done by hand.
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The hoodies from the Japanese brand Bathing Ape (around 500 euros) are well-known and popular for their shark motifs. For a package of socks from Readymade, also from Japan, customers sometimes spend 200 euros – but then they get three pairs.
MBCY, Kaiserstrasse 23, Frankfurt; Monday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; www.solebox.de