Joe Fresh Arrives On Madison Avenue (And It's Dirty Cheap!)

The space on Madison where the temporary Ralph Lauren store used to be during the renovation of the Flagship store, has finally been rented by another retailer. Boy, I loved that store! It was very minimalist and so easy for me to pop in (no stairs and other mom unfriendly paraphernalia), Ralph Lauren definitively lost a client when they moved back to the old location. It made me sad to walk by the empty store every day, but all of a suddent we saw activity, one day the windows were painted orange and last week we saw the grand opening of Joe Fresh, a Canadian brand almost unknown in the USA. To me the name wasn't completely new since they also opened a store in East Hampton last summer but since I never go shopping when I am in the Hamptons I had only seen the store front without going in (althought I had seen a gorgeous pair of platform sandals in the window).

I popped in the first day but I had literally ten minutes before picking up my daughter at school. However those ten minutes were enough for me to notice two things. First, they have few styles, repeated in lots of different colors/fabrics. Second, the prices are dirty cheap, at least for New York. Half the Zara prices I would say, for a comparable quality. The brand comes across as basic/minimalist but there are a few standouts, especially the dresses. As you know I am mostly interested in dresses this season and at Joe Fresh I found what I was looking for. I came back the day after and came home with two dresses and a blouse, for around $100 total (the blouse in particular was very cheap).

First, this $39 jumper was declined in at least 7 colors. I had a hard time to choose and the first impulse was to buy multiples, but then I rationalized (ivory was gorgeous but too springy; I don't need a camel anymore because I have the Loft one and I have worn it already. And pink can wait) and settled for this beautiful burgundy. This dress is very well made, it is a substantial fabric and fully lined (it has a zip in the back and it is not exposed, hurray!) It fits TTS to a little bit big, this is a XS (after the first pic, I cleaned my mirror, I realized it was really gross as you can see):

This is perfect for a school tour, with a shirt underneath and a jacket (OK, I didn't wear the shirt here because I was lazy):

The other dress that I took home is a faux-suede grey sheath dress with a draping on the front that felt simply luxurious on (this one was $49). I felt Demi Moore in this dress, so it had to come home with me even if I don't know where I am going to wear it just yet. Again, this is the XS:

The last purchase is a cotton tie-neck blouse that was only $24. I wanted to add a tie-neck blouse (or "bow" blouse) to my closet this spring but I could only find silk ones (too expensive/high maintenance/shiny) or poly ones. This one is cotton and looks great under a dress like the burgundy jumper. Size-wise this one fits pretty big, I was almost outsized since they don't carry XXS but because the sleeves were OK I didn't mind a little bit of extra room. I wanted to take pics of it worn under the jumper (I tried them together in the store and they looked great) but my daughter was literally bouncing balls at me in this photo session because she wanted to go outside so I just threw on a jacket to show you how cute is the bow peeking out:

I will definitively shop again at Joe Fresh (the service was great too, the SA offered spontaneously to steam my dress because it was a bit wrinkled). If they don't change the styles often enough it could became a little be boring but I am happy with what I found so far.
If you live in New York and you want to check it out, the address is Madison Avenue @ 80th St (one block away from the Collection store).

Have you ever heard of Joe Fresh before (I bet that the Canadian readers know this brand very well and can chime in)?