Tired of the Hamptons? Fashion Isn’t

The Hamptons — a splattering of ritzy beach towns at the east end of New York’s Long Island — have become the official centre of fashion’s race to the top this summer.

According to Kate Bartlett, a Manhattan-based content creator and fashion student who has worked with brands including Ralph Lauren, Carolina Herrera and Mango, the vast majority of the 10 or so events she’s invited to weekly have been in the area. It’s not just the sheer volume of happenings on the rise, but the effort brands are putting into execution: car services, caviar, models and Burgundy wine.

“Who can out compete? [Who can bring] the chefs from Paris and the cocktail guys from Miami?” said Euan Rellie, self-styled “Fashion Banker” and longtime Hamptonite. “There’s one-upmanship and competition for eyeballs and attention.”

Emma Ambrose, a 20-something TikTokker and Sag Harbor native says that all the attention has turned the Hamptons into a “content playground” for influencers — and many Hamptons regulars lament enough is enough, that the scene is buckling under the pressure of its own hype. New York Magazine dedicated its summer issue to chronicling the area’s mind-boggling prices, mediocre restaurants, bumper-to-bumper traffic and endless parade of fashion parties.

“It’s a lot coming at the consumer,” said Barrie Glabman, partner at UK-based outwear brand Marfa Stance and longtime Hamptons resident.

The Hamptons have never exactly been quiet: its wealthy patrons and quaint East Coast charm have long captivated the media and the attention of brands eager to court a luxury clientele. With callouts from The Real Housewives and Gossip Girl to paparazzi-heavy events like billionaire Michael Rubin’s White Party, the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Chanel have all set up shop with stores and parties in the South Fork of Long Island. On prime strips like East Hampton’s Main Street, vacancies are rare, and rents are always on the rise, said Jeff Sztorc, a broker at Compass: “There’s no turnover and there’s a waiting list. If a store becomes available, it gets rented overnight.”

Even off the main streets, fashion is inescapable now: the uniforms at Swifty’s restaurant are Zimmerman, the coffee sleeves at Jack’s Coffee Shop are Dôen and the umbrellas at Gurney’s hotel are Dolce & Gabbana.

But even as the buzz around the Hamptons is coming to a head, its commercial appeal remains undeniable and does not appear to be diminishing any time soon. People go to the Hamptons to spend money, and shopping is one of the main activities. Prices — for homes, summer rentals, food and drink — are sky high, but there’s enough demand to sustain them.

After all, the concentrated pool of wealth in the Hamptons is unparalleled, especially after the pandemic as remote work has allowed affluent New Yorkers to spend more time out East. Today, this demographic is critical to a luxury industry scrambling to make up for the aspirational shoppers who can no longer afford $500 sunglasses and $4,000 handbags.

And this year, said Barlett, more young people have been opting for the East Coast rather than extended stays in Europe.

“It’s always going to be a place we consider because our customer is there,” said Revolve’s chief brand officer Raissa Gerona. She added the area’s high cost of entry keeps it aspirational even as it sparks backlash online.

Brands love the Hamptons because ultimately it’s a mecca for capitalism; underlying it all is an entrenched cycle of consumption and parties, and parties that trigger consumption, unlike anywhere else, said Rellie.

“It’s a hermetically sealed ecosystem of rich people who are interested in fashion, who buy the clothes to wear at the swank parties,” said Rellie. “In New York, it’s not quite the same performative environment. Here you come to see and be seen.”

The Instagram Boom

Wherever influencers go, “cringe” inevitably follows, said Lindsay Silberman, influencer and founder of Hotel Lobby Candles. But influencers in the Hamptons are commercial powerhouses in their own right.

“The majority of customers find out about brands through influencers,” she said. Putting them in a setting with cachet is a recipe for conversation: Silberman commissioned a jet (with pillows saying “My Candles Fly Private”) to take influencers to a dockside dinner and overnight stay at Montauk Yatch Club, last week. The brand saw over double the amount of Instagram page views in the week that followed versus the previous seven days, and a 50 percent increase in e-commerce sales compared to the average week this year. Jacquemus, Alix Earle, Asos and Casablanca have hosted activations at the Montauk beach club and influencer hot-spot Surf Lodge in the past few weeks. Net-a-Porter hosted its first physical pop-up this month, while Revolve came back for the first time since 2017.

In contrast to its SoHo location, shoe brand Dolce Vita’s first South Hampton outpost is meant to elevate the brand rather than just drive sales. The airy store was designed as an art gallery in collaboration with sourcing company Down the Street, featuring vintage chairs and mirrors in hopes of prompting shoppers to stick around and take selfies — “so important in the Hamptons,” said Danielle Daiz, a marketing manager at Dolce Vita.

With all the activity, the need to go bigger grows, said Silberman: “A few years ago someone would put up an umbrella [on the beach] … now in order to compete you have to bring something interesting to the table.”

Michael Catalano, who opened The Hub, a 6,000-square-foot concept store in Bridgehampton this summer, is pulling out all of the stops: He hosts cocktail hours, workout classes and a med spa where visitors can get Botox, facials or a GLP-1 drop. Last weekend, The Hub partnered with Marc Jacobs on “Bark Jacobs,” where customers could get their dog painted on their bag. In August, French department store Printemps will host an event there. Catalano has even brought college admissions counsellors in to host sessions for the children of his customers.

Private Events and Quiet Power

On social media, influencers run the Hamptons. But the area’s real spenders are more insular.

For brands looking to form relationships directly with wealthy shoppers, the Hamptons have always been a prime destination. Early in its US expansion, Zimmerman focused on clienteling in the Hamptons, hosting dinners and opening its first store in 2017. Ruffled dress label Loveshackfancy, which now has over 20 stores, also got its start doing local trunk shows. More recently, TWP, which launched in 2021, has staked its claim with stores in Sag Harbor and Southampton.

Trunk shows and invite-only soirees, sometimes at locals’ residences, are on the rise. Buying something at these events is somewhat de riguer, said Rellie. His wife, the socialite Lucy Sykes, recently hosted a shopping event for British brand Tove, at their home. “Lucy invited 50 people for lunch and sold 50 dresses,” he said.

Nina Runsdorf, a jewellery designer, hosted designer Danielle Kallmeyer at her East Hampton home this month — $200 T-shirts went alongside Runsdorf’s $10,000 bracelets; one client bought 10 items from Kallmeyer and left before lunch was served, while others stayed all day. These types of events offer something special to discerning clients, who aren’t getting the service they want at department stores and desire unique things others don’t have access to, she said.

Some brands are taking it beyond the Hamptons. Marfa Stance, which hosted over 200 trunk shows last year, follows its Hamptons customers — and their friends — to other vacation hotspots throughout the year, including Aspen, Sun Valley and Palm Beach then back home to the Upper East Side. Catalano said he is hoping to expand The Hub to Palm Beach next.

“You spend so much time with the customer, you end up becoming friends half the time,” said Marfa Stance’s Glabman. “They bring a friend, they bring their sister. We built a community around this.”

The strategy is so effective, some bigger labels have started to draw the curtains on their traditional stores — Chanel, for example, closed its flashy boutique on East Hampton’s Newtown Lane, opting instead for an exclusive, appointment-only salon at the recently-reopened, historic Hedges Inn this summer.

“We’re going to see more things that are super intimate, you’re lucky if you get the invitation,” said Runsdorf. “The intimate parties are where people are actually shopping and getting to know each other.”