Brand Feature: Opening Ceremony

Last week, I stumbled upon a ‘secret’ Opening Ceremony sample sale in downtown LA. I say ‘secret’ because I only heard about the sale through word of mouth from a guy who just happened to be working in the same building as me. He told me he scored this awesome bomber jacket that was originally $700 for $80, so naturally I had to check it out.

After showing proof of vaccination and getting a neon yellow wristband, I entered into a room crammed from wall to wall with racks of clothes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much clothes squeezed into such a confined space. There were boxes of shoes, piles. of sweaters, bulging racks of coats and jackets, and a table full of accessories. It was truly overwhelming.

Prior to the sample sale, I had never shopped at Opening Ceremony before. With a pretty high price point and a very eccentric vibe that I wouldn’t say completely matches my own, the brand is not for the faint of heart or for those who’d rather blend in with the crowd. When combing through the racks of clothes, I noticed that many of the pieces were bold and unabashed. It’s a style of dressing that I completely admire but don’t really see as a reflection of myself. While I looked around at the other people shopping the sample sale, I noticed an equally eccentrically dressed crowd full of grungy, stylish yuppies and fashion bargain hunters. For a while, I almost felt a bit out of place, as if possibly I wouldn’t find something that would speak to me within such a vast assortment of clothes.

Up and down the aisles of racks I went and right as I was ready to leave empty handed, I spotted this blood orange cardigan. My initial thought was that this color is perfect for Fall. Upon closer examination, I realized that the cardigan was actually split along the sides and meant to be tied around the front. Immediately, I tried it on over my clothes and some women took notice. “It looks so good!” they said, “Your frame make it look so long and pretty.” It was one of the more interesting designs and constructions of a garment I’ve come across in a while, so I bought it without even seeing myself in it.

Behold, my new Opening Ceremony cardigan. I love this new addition to my wardrobe so much and with the weather getting cooler, I know I’ll be making a lot of use out of it.

Note: The reason why Opening Ceremony had a sample sale was because it was recently bought by New Guards Group and they are in the process of closing all their retail stores. Nevertheless, you can still shop many of their styles online via their website or other online retailers like Farfetch. Now that I officially feel like a fan of the brand, I’m excited to see what’s to come with the new chapter of Opening Ceremony.

xx

Ella Kol