On September 24th, IDEA venture Annie Mulz celebrated the first full month in their Gloucester Street store space. Founder Matt Osofian describes Annie Mulz as “a metropolitan casual wear brand based on the concept of the ‘animal in man.’” Located just between Newbury and Boylston, the space was previously used as the Fenway Arts Center, a Back Bay landmark since the mid 1900’s.
Prior to moving to Back Bay, Annie Mulz sold their pieces through a variety of channels- including Bodega in Boston and a third-party online vendor.
Annie Mulz shares the space, dubbed “The Kyoto Jungle”, with Green Street Vault, another Boston-based creative apparel company. The store is a combination of the two brands, which Osofian explains “share a very similar mindset in terms of the future of the city we are living in.”
Osofian describes The Kyoto Jungle as a “concept store…started from the ground up and built out with multiple creative concepts in mind.” The end result of this creative development is a “fluid physical and visual layout” that juxtaposes their bright, bold clothing against abstract wall installations, creating an entirely unique shopping experience for their customers. Construction of the store was extremely labor intensive, as Annie Mulz and Green Street Vault built, painted, and designed every aspect themselves.
On August 24th, Annie Mulz and Green Street Vault held an event for friends, press, and those that had helped to build the shop. The Kyoto Jungle officially opened for business on August 25th with an opening party, which brought out more than 300 customers who enjoyed exploring the store while listening to some of Boston’s best DJ’s. Since their opening, Osofian and his team have found this new location to be “the perfect marriage of commerce and creativity…the best we have ever had.”
Be sure to stop by the store, located at 50 Gloucester St., and keep an eye out for the brand’s highly anticipated “Cut and Sewn” tailored garments line to debut this fall!
