Nordstrom and Noah Team Up for a Delightfully Unexpected Summer Clothing Collection

For the small, socially conscious, materials-obsessed New York menswear brand Noah to set up shop at a big national retailer like Nordstrom may not make sense at first. But consider everything going on in retail right now, and the partnership just feels right.

Nordstrom’s new Concept 011: Noah store, which launched online today, brings the brand’s thoughtfully made clothing to the masses via a new kind of digital world. Unlike Nordstrom’s previous collabs with big-name labels, like Dior and Thom Browne, this collection is firmly rooted in the virtual to counter the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. (It will also be available at select Nordstrom locations across the country if bricks and mortar is more your thing.)

The majority of pieces will retail for under $200, and all of them showcase the quality materials and thoughtful construction Noah is known for. With bold prints and bright colors, it’s kind of like really well made retro garb. And addition to the clothing, the collection also features four unique brand collaborations with the B52s, Birdwell, Vuarnet and Island Slipper, as well as few Nordstrom exclusives.

Noah founder Brendon Babenzien doesn’t typically work with large retailers—let alone century-old department stores—because he feels that the goals of independent labels and big stores rarely align. But as the fashion industry continues to interrogate its relationship with environmental issues and the voices it chooses to elevate (or not), this kind of partnership may become more common.

“The world can’t afford business as usual anymore. The old ideas of big business and small business and the imbalance of power within the fashion industry needs to be a thing of the past,” Babenzien said in a statement. “Noah’s partnership with Nordstrom strives to regain some of the human element, the creativity and the fun that built this industry in the first place.”

Here’s to that.

You can peruse photos of the pieces below or check out the full collection online here.