It’s always a great pleasure to meet up with my dear friend M. Arnault Castel, owner / retailer of select shop Kapok this afternoon. He’s, I dare say, one of the very few in town who listens to his heart and buys according to personal taste, and the shop reflects utterly that and just that. Away from mainstream highstreet and located at upcoming cool area, we talked about the ever evolving niche market and the current customer’s shopping habit. It was also nice to find out what’s moving in the first six months and looking forward – what’s coming in the 2nd half of 2009. Other than the ever sought-after unique assortment of candles and fragrances from Astier de Villatte, Heeley and Diptyque, the wool felt tote icon Carga, well fit Thomsen Paris shirt, Feiyue – plimsoll Chinoise de riguere  and Max & Unicorn anorexic wallet are all best sellers. Nevertheless, even the new items such as French classic Saint James Breton tees and Void watches are both selling like hotcakes.

Further to the above, I had the luck to get a preview on freshly unpacked arrivals of Saint James (I saw more COLOURS!) and Commune de Paris, 1871 (below). I can only expose a tiny bit more that Kapok will have more offers for girls for sure, and they’ll have a small selection from a NYC upcoming menswear designer this coming fall. Watch out.