Alife is closing its flagship store in New York City.
In an extended statement shared to Instagram, Alife’s GM Treis Hill reflected on the decades-strong legacy of the location, thanking everyone “that helped make it magic” for so many years.
“There isn’t a person of influence in streetwear today that has not stepped foot in the shop,” Hill said. “It was more than just a retail store, it was a meeting ground for downtown’s youth, it played host to countless live concerts from Drake, Nas, John Mayer, King Krule. It raised a generation of creatives.”
See Hill’s full statement below:
Alife recently launched a new collaboration with frequent partner Timberland featuring a three-eye lug shoe that boasts a double-stacked midsole. The accompanying campaign for the collab was shot by NYC-based photographer Blake Kunin, whose history in zines is well-documented.
Last May, Alife—founded in the late ‘90s by Arnaud Delecolle, Tammy Brainard, Tony Arcabascio, and Rob Cristofaro—dropped a fundraising hoodie honoring Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man who was fatally shot while jogging in Georgia.
In an interview with Uproxx last October, Cristofaro reflected on the Alife brand’s legacy, including specifically sharing his thoughts on the cultural impact of the Rivington Street store.
It was really just some of the same products that you would find a block over on Delancey Street, just reimagined in this new environment,” Cristofaro said at the time. “So it was really designed to give people an experience where they would walk into this place and be in a totally different world. That was really the thought behind it—to create this environment that was like nothing at the time.”
