Night Lines: The Karmaloop Relaunch Bash


1213894547According to karma—and Justin Timberlake—what goes around, comes around. And so it was for the reopening of streetwear retailer Karmaloop last Friday. When the store closed its doors for renovations six months ago, there was a dip in the Boston hip factor. But now the Newbury Street stop is back, with more street cred than ever. And its hoodie-clad, sneaker freak shoppers were ready to celebrate.

In its renovation, Karmaloop traded its graffitied walls for damask ones, now adorned with golden framed pictures and flat-screen TVs. The updated shop is still a haven for hipsters and a toy store for twenty-somethings—and now there are even more toys to play with. From the four computer stations where customers can order goods not sold in the bricks-and-mortar shop (free of shipping charges) to the see-through floor encasing vintage Jordans to a (real) rat skeleton and a (fake) human skull, there’s no shortage of visual stimulation in the relaunched store.

As for the party, “fashionably late” apparently doesn’t apply to Karmaloop devotees. While we arrived too tardy to cash in on the free drinks, we made it in time to grab one of the fortune cookies that revealed the after party’s “secret location.” That would be the upper floor of Chau Chow City in Chinatown, where more than 400 party-goers swilled comp drinks and feasted on fried food while bopping to the beats of such trendy DJs as Team Facelift, Kid Cudi, Bladerunners, and DJ Redfox. Meanwhile, crew members of KarmaloopTV, an online video Web site launched by Karmaloop owner Greg Selkoe, interviewed partygoers.

As the clock inched closer to 2 a.m., we heard murmurs of an after-after party. And while as 30 Rock fans, we know there’s always an after-after-after-after party on the roof of a building at 6 a.m. somewhere, we took a pass on the early morning merrymaking this time around. Overall, Karmaloop’s reopening bash was all that and dim sum.

—Tierney McAfee

160 Newbury St., Boston, 617-369-0100, www.karmaloop.com.