His Stuff - Andersonville (Closed)

Editor's Review   Andersonville continues its rapid transformation from sleepy Scandinavian burg into a fashionably trendy (if not lesbian laden) hot spot. The North Clark Street neighborhood continues to shed its Swedish heritage, it recently added a minimalist, house-music pumping Korean restaurant, several art galleries and a gourmet chocalatier to its list of 60640 addresses, not to mention antique street lamps.

Hoping to shine a little light on Andersonville’s lack of clothing retailers, business partners Jeff Worth and Ralph Fasano recently opened His Stuff, a store for men. With its modern use of warm woods and radiating soft lights, the simply designed store is impressive in its uncluttered design—it almost beckons the thirty-something men of Andersonville into its confines. And the clothing designs within the retailer tend to mimic the architectural space—simple, basic, yet stylish.

Buyer Ralph Fasano took Qchicago.com on a tour, “We’re a neighborhood store catering to the neighborhood—we carry things guys need everyday. The idea is we wanted to save our clients a trip to areas where it was hard to park, where they had to pay to park, or where it was a hassle to get to. So we brought in everyday wear—things you need to go to dinner with your family or on a date or to the gym.”

“But we also wanted an area for trend, to carry different stuff than everybody else. We only carry small quantities within all these lines—once an item is gone, we don’t bring it in again. So you don’t have to walk down the street or go to the clubs and see somebody else with the same clothes on as you.”

“Our lines are stories broken down, things you can put together and the story will constantly be going through an evolution. You can take one piece of the story and add it to another piece for a whole new look.”

“We carry Report out of Canada who does great things with woolens, knits, and similar materials. MBX out of L.A. does unbelievable work with synthetics (as he points to a subtle, soft tan jacket in ultra suede). No man would ever buy a jacket out of suede, but with this synthetic, it can’t be destroyed. We’re the exclusive carriers of a new underwear line called Baskit (www.baskitwear.com)—it’s a great line that doesn’t discriminate against lefties and righties, that even has specially designed pouch for your bus fare. And the quality is unbelievable, so we didn’t feel like we needed to carry another line. We’ve got YMLA (www.ymla.com) for gym wear and club wear, Hugo Boss’ Red Line, their more active wear with jeans, cords, basics. French Concept is another one of our exclusive lines direct from Paris. With this line, we’re offering a really unique look that you don’t see a lot of other people in.”

The owners added, “We’re happy to be gay owned, but we’re not exclusively a gay store. We’ve got married couples coming in to shop, wives shopping for their husbands, lots of locals.”