A Summer Boutique with Decades Pops Up on Shelter Island
BY JANET MERCEL
Is a lobster roll the perfect accessory to your Balmain fit this summer? Shelter Island certainly thinks so. The nearly 80-year-old fashion brand has launched a month-long showcase at The Pridwin Hotel & Cottages, one of the most picturesque properties around. A major overhaul in 2022 upped the ante at the historic beach resort, now attracting guests as dazzling as the unrivaled waterfront views of the Sound.
The Balmain Boutique sits in dual lawn-level, terraced rooms right at the center of the hotel action. Until August 15, visitors can wander down from cocktails in the Palm Beach-glam bar, and sift through the High Summer and Early Fall collections before heading over to the pool overlooking the bay. The all American beach setting, juxtaposed with the French fashion powerhouse, is exactly what the creators envisioned.
“We were contemplating various destinations the last few months, and kept coming back to The Pridwin,” says Cameron Silver, Los Angeles stylist and founder of Decades. He is partnering with Balmain this year, following four summers of events at other Hamptons spots. On a previous trip, Silver was gobsmacked by sunsets from the deck and the “magical” surroundings, and was determined to share it. “Experiential ‘luxury’ is completely ubiquitous now, but bringing people here is an opportunity to have a truly one of a kind moment. There’s no location out here that’s more beautiful.”
Balmain or no Balmain, does getting people to come (slightly) off the beaten path of the Hamptons present a challenge? “We all sort of meditated on the pros and cons of the location, because of that six-minute ferry ride,” Silver says with mock outrage. “But it actually takes almost no effort. And once you’re here, it has such a different energy.” You can reach Shelter Island by ferry (car or foot), boat, or seaplane, and if you’re someone who has spent years driving by and ignoring the road signs for the Sag Harbor ferry stop (guilty), now is the time to branch out.
“We’re partners in fashion crime, Balmain just get it. We know the client out here– who she is and what she wants to be.”
Cameron Silver
Together with Balmain’s creative director, Olivier Rousteing, and The Pridwin, Silver curated a luxury resort shopping experience for his ladies out east. Alongside design partners like L.A. jewelers, HOORSENBUH, the Decades’ vintage curation plays very nicely next to the sorbet-shocked shades, watercolor washes and nautical stripes of signature Balmain resort pieces. “It’s all the exact colors of the sunset. And in this location, it’s all very visceral,” he describes. In addition to rifling the racks, summer shoppers will have access to private styling sessions and VIP fashion events.
“We’re partners in fashion crime, they just get it,” says Silver of the French clothiers. “We know the client out here– who she is and what she wants to be, and how to compliment that.” What the lady wants to be, is someone who can find new Balmain baroque-print palazzo trousers next to a vintage drop waist Chanel tennis dress, in an impossibly idyllic atmosphere. “Take one of our Herve Leger couture bandage dresses, top it with a Balmain jacket, and head straight to your dinner— it’s a royal flush.”
BALMAIN BOUTIQUE at The Pridwin / 81 Shore Road, Shelter Island. July 17th – August 15th
