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- Tokio 7
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64 East 7th Street, 212-353-8443
Tokio 7 owner Makoto Watanabe, an ex– Asahi-beer executive in a hand-painted Bruce Lee sweatshirt, knows his labels. Outside his small East Village consignment shop, there’s a freshly magic-markered sign listing his catches of the day: Diane von Furstenberg dress, $60. Alice + Olivia pants, $75. Gucci shirt, $50. This is not the place to find Linda Wachner–ish board-meeting suits or the tailored tweeds and sober shifts that populate the racks of the Upper East Side consignment district (though Watanabe will allow that Chanel “can be funky sometimes”). Tokio 7’s labels are more Kate Hudson chick-flick: Tocca, Theory, Tracy Feith, K-189, Chaiken, and Diesel. Silvery Sigerson Morrison kitten heels ($50) rub up against pumps by Prada and Miu Miu. And there’s plenty made in Japan besides the tree of $20 plastic Kewpie dolls: Issey, Yohji, and Commes des Garçons. “Kawaii!” a Japanese teenager squeals, trying on a pair of green Louboutin elf boots in front of the no food no drink no dog allowed sign. Cute.
Best Secondhand Shopping
From the 2003 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine