Two: Minds is back. Well, it never really left.
Rather, the upscale men’s and women’s multibrand boutique in New York’s Meatpacking District moved around the corner for a year, setting up shop at 68 Gansevoort Street while its original address got a facelift. And now it’s back.
The store at 34 Gansevoort Street looks exactly as it did before: all-white with blond wood accents and a midcentury seating area inspired by The Row in London. The smell of fresh paint was the only tip-off a renovation had taken place.
As these things tend to go, it started with routine maintenance: the elevator to Two: Minds’ underground stock room needed updating, giving cofounder Jesse Dong an opportunity to consider what else he’d like to update.
Dries Van Noten at Two: Minds.
Courtesy of Two: Minds
“We thought about what would increase the customer experience,” he said, rattling off some fixes that, while not immediately discernible, make an impact.
This included brightening the lights “because we had clients that would go through the rails and kind of squint,” and lowering the shelves, “so they could pick up the product and feel it. You don’t want to put things too out of reach,” he said.
Fitting rooms were also expanded slightly to better accommodate Two: Minds’ selling method of on-site personal styling. Dong said he felt customers needed more space to relax “while they’re having fun buying some clothes.”
Sacai at Two: Minds.
Courtesy of Two: Minds
In step with what designers are sending down their spring runways, Dong is zeroing in on craveable everyday essentials over special occasion pieces, buying “narrow and deep” as he put it, into knits from The Row and Khaite, Sacai outerwear, Agolde denim and the tamer ends of Dries Van Noten’s and Rick Owens’ fashion spectrum.
He joked: “You know, we might not have the best party dresses, OK?” But the mannequin sporting a naval-grazing Christopher Esber gown begs to differ.
The equation Dong and general merchandise manager David Rubinstein swear by is “70 percent metrics and 30 percent magic,” which appears to be clicking. Like their former boss Jeffrey Kalinsky in the late ‘90s, they’re at the center of the Meatpacking District’s post-COVID-19 renaissance with Acne Studios, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent and more popping up all around.
The Row at Two: Minds.
Courtesy of Two: Minds
When Dong got the lease to 34 Gansevoort a little more than five years ago, he admitted “it was dumb luck a little bit. And to see where the street is right now, I believe it’s the new Rodeo Drive because the square footage is very small and everybody’s fighting to get it.”
Not so lucky was Two: Minds Miami, which closed last year. Summing up his outlook on the failed venture, Dong borrowed a baseball metaphor from his father Jimmy, Two: Minds’ unofficial mascot who ushers in potential shoppers off the sidewalk: “If you’re not taking swings at the mound, then you’re not in the game. Sometimes you miss, sometimes you hit.”
Jesse Dong (left) in the Paradise Zero Collection 1 campaign.
Courtesy of Paradise Zero
Dong is equally passionate about sports as he is retail, which is why he decided to launch a men’s athletic apparel line, Paradise Zero, in July.
“It was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done,” he admitted, “because I was thinking to myself ‘How can I be in fashion, be an athlete and then offer a bad product?’”
Drawing on his experiences as a wrestler and 24-hour gym-bro style, fits were kept trim so Dong could wear, say, a pair of training shorts ($98) with a matching black quarter zip ($155) to workout in between market appointments in Paris.
Paradise Zero Collection 1
Courtesy of Paradise Zero
Luckily, there won’t be much sweating as Collection 1 hinges on a techy grid fabric that’s cool to the touch and dries in five minutes. The second collection, coming in November, prioritizes warmth with cashmere and merino base layers.
While Dong is developing Paradise Zero as a separate business, it’s carried by Two: Minds and available online as well as through Fwrd. Most recently, Equinox picked it up for five of its locations.
As for whether he’ll be taking another swing at replicating Two: Minds elsewhere, Dong said right now he just wants New York to be the best it can be. “And I’m not sure more is better. I think perfecting what you have is where it’s at.”
Paradise Zero Collection 1
Courtesy of Paradise Zero
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