Location, Location, Location!!!

For the past few weeks, we at Mal Sirrah have been keeping a little secret…

Mal Sirrah, Inc. have relocated our showroom/studio from Harlem to downtown Manhattan. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Manhattan and/or the role Harlem has played in the development of New York City as well as its contribution to the world, please allow me to give you just a wee bit of insight.

Without going into the long illustrious history of Harlem USA, it is important that you know that during the early to mid 1900’s Harlem was considered to be the most affluent and influential Negro community in the western world. Harlem has been the home to artists such as Morgan and Marvin Smith, writers James Baldwin, Langston Hughes and Claude McKay, musicians Duke Ellington and Bessie Smith and a countless list of other African-American luminaries. I must admit, when I originally moved to Harlem I had fantasies of becoming the Langston Hughes of the fashion industry. This fantasy is now becoming a reality as I will carry the flame and legacy of Harlem inside of me forever.

Portrait of Langston Hughes

I envisioned continuing the fight started by fellow fashion Harlemnites such as Stephen Burrows, Montgomery, as well as my contemporaries that continue to show their brilliant collections without mainstream recognition. Oh how I had visions of The New Harlem Renaissance!!! Unfortunately when I now think of the New Harlem Renaissance, my gut feeling tells me that there will be very few faces that resemble mine. This is a discussion that is way too long for this post, especially in light of a recent comment left here on Cut, Sew and Blog where the commenter wrote, “Mr. Malcolm stop whining – fashion is change.”(I will be addressing this particular anonymous commenter in a separate post.)

Harlem based designer - Montgomery

Moving forward… Mal Sirrah, Inc. will now be housed in a temporary location in the Meat-Packing District until we acquire our new showroom and studio space in the same area. Of course, our current space is half the size of our old studio in Harlem and costs three times the rent. Therefore, as you can imagine this was not an easy decision. This was purely a strategic business move - location, location, location…

A little known fact is that Mal Sirrah’s core business currently comes from our made-to-order clientele. I have chosen to strategically build our business out in this slow-paced and effective manner as this customer base will remain loyal long after the press buzz and celebrity clientele has moved on to the next new thing. However, in the past two years we have found it very difficult to persuade our private clients, editors, buyers, etc. to regularly cross the perceived class line which takes place at Manhattan's 96th Street.

Video of the Mal Sirrah Harlem Vision

Originally I was under the impression New Yorkers in particular were much too sophisticated and/or savvy to feed into such an antiquated way of thinking, but I guess I was wrong. I know this sounds way too West Side Story – “The Jets vs. The Sharks” … but I happen to know for a fact that many city dwellers are simply comfortable in their belief that Harlem is still no more than the crime ridden and drug infested anecdote of the 80s and late 90’s. Solely based on the recent record breaking property sales currently taking place in Harlem alone, this is truly not the case. On the landmark block (Convent Avenue) that housed the Mal Sirrah showroom properties were selling at $2.5M to $3.8M on a regular basis. Unfortunately, as an emerging brand, Mal Sirrah simply doesn’t have enough time or the resources to change the minds of its entire client roster or to wait out the shift in perception. Therefore The Sharks will now be moving its entire operation into the land of The Jets. However, this particular Shark will have a name – MAL SIRRAH!!!

Finally, I must also admit that I am very excited about our new adventure as it will allow our brand a much higher level of recognition as well as place us directly in the thick of things. I will keep you all posted of developments as they happen... Wish us luck!!!

In the meantime, please take a look at this video trailer from West Side Story made in 1961. While aesthetically Manhattan has changed tremendously, I am sad to report that the mindset of a great number of its inhabitants still hasn’t “changed” all that much… And that’s not “whining” this is simply a proven fact!!!