When the designer Anne Johnston Albert shut down her East Village label and shop, Martin, in 2005 to move to Great Barrington, Massachusetts, cult-like fans of her jeans were, to put it mildly, dismayed. Martin resurfaced online, but the experience wasn’t quite the same. “In the store, you can tell what’s going to work on someone the minute she walks in,” she says. “But when you’re answering questions via e-mail, you’re working in the dark. I missed having the interaction with customers.” You can now have that personal experience again, but you will have to travel to Great Barrington.
Germain, the clothing and home décor shop Albert’s opened with the interior designer Elena Litteron, features a carefully edited collection of jeans, tanks and easy dresses as well as mid-century furniture, pillows made from Swiss army blankets and other vintage fabrics, and pottery and photography by local artists.
