Sam Alston Hosts Her Eighth Iteration of Big Lives.

FASHION

SAM ALSTON LEADS BIG LIVES

WORDS

by KRISTOPHER FRASER

PHOTOS

COURTESY

of WINI LAO PHOTOGRAPHY

LVMH-alumna Sam Alston’s company Big Lives has been taking off in a major way. The company aims to disrupt and reinvent the way we shop through experiential shopping events. In order to create memorable gatherings and offer a proper stage for up-and-coming designer she partners with major real estate companies to host in exclusive locations. Her most recent Big Lives event was at Dutch-american artist Willem de Kooning’s New York apartment.

The idea behind these retail activations is that they are a sort of open house, complete with designer collections and drinks and nibbles from local food vendors. Big Lives is named after an interaction Alston had with a brilliant sale advisor at an L.A. boutique who told her: “My clients have such big lives, fashion is the realm for them to connect, play, and be inspired.”

Other previous pop-up locations include a modern ranch in Palm Springs, a newly renovated Capital Hill home in Seattle, and a Brooklyn townhouse. Each property selected reflects the aesthetic of the collections being featured.

“Our mission at Big Lives is to support emerging designers, and a big part of that is the space,” Alston said. “We have a long term relationship with a couple of agents and realtors, so we try to source spaces that have an interesting audience. We have a really great match to offer beautiful, exceptional real estate locations because our customers love designers that might also fit within that lifestyle.”

The spaces are curated to feel like a gallery like home, versus feeling like a staged real estate location or a store. Alston spends a considerable amount of time doing a lot of research, travel, and networking to help create these unique shopping experiences. All of the curation is done around a certain theme. The brands for this particular event at 94 Degraw Street in Brooklyn included House Dress, Nikki Chasin, Arteaga, Grammar, Combine de Filles, Odio Mimonet, and Maison Daviel. Designers included in the collective for each shopping experiential can range from local to international.

Sam Alston.

“My purchase is about something bigger than consumption, and is further enriched with memories through wear.”

–Sam Alston–

While the traditional pop-up concept is simply an adaptation of brick-and-mortar retail, Big Lives “is less about acquiring new customers via location and more about building an inspiring experience through the architecture and feel of the space itself,” Alston said. Big Lives’ spaces are designed to feel more like a community gathering of visitors who can get to know each other rather than somewhere you’re going in to shop, so there's no pressure to buy.

Items can be procured on the spot or pondered over and purchased online post-event, so customers and event attendees can really enjoy the experience rather than feel like they are obligated to buy. Clients can also book and in-home appointment if they see something they love at an event and prefer to try it on in the privacy of their own home.

Alston believes customers respond to collaborative spaces like these because, “It’s why we all work,” she said. “For me, the most satisfying thing about Big Lives is the relationships I get to build with creatives. It’s so fun to help with a business angle and see people be inspired by working alongside a team or partners.”

Big Lives started in November of 2017, and their recent Brooklyn event marked their eighth iteration. Alston set out to do this project because she felt traditional retail was dusty and the rise of micro-brands, digital commerce, and spending on experiences upped the ante. Collections are curated with the Big Lives community in mind, and items don’t go on sale, so there’s no excess or waste.

“Customers want to gain value from a brand that goes beyond the value of a product acquired,” Alston said. “I don’t need another T-shirt; I need the souvenir of an experience. My purchase is about something bigger than consumption, and is further enriched with memories through wear.”

Alston was inspired to create this space because she had always loved retail and wanted to open her own store. After receiving her MBA, she worked on the corporate side of fashion for years, but decided she wanted to go back and explore the idea of how to create a meaningful brick-and-mortar experience for customers who want to discover new brands.

“The retail industry is misled by one core assumption: that buying and shopping are the same,” Alston said. “The reality is, you don’t need to buy to have shopped. Once we remove that requirement, the experience starts to get interesting.”

Watch to see where Big Lives goes next, because this show is continuing on the road.

Big Lives at 94 Degraw Street