Kick Box

A new colorway for Philly's top sneaker store

June 6, 2007—The whole "sixth borough" label might be overblown, but Philadelphia is home to a Big Apple–caliber sneaker shop. And it just received a thorough makeover. Ubiq opened last year with the launch of its house line, but in a bid to lure East Coast exclusives from other brands, creative director Peter Chung brought in Rafael Cardenas, designer of aNYthing in NYC (not to mention Parker Posey's apartment), to gut the place. "It had this all-white, hyper-uniform aesthetic, and the cool Japanese brands weren't really interested in selling there with the way it looked," says Cardenas, who created a dizzyingly opulent sneaker gallery lined with Versace-style geometric wallpaper. "A lot of them waited to see photos of the new space before committing." Apparently, they liked what they saw: Next week the store will be one of three on the East Coast to carry Nike's latest Vintage models (which will share space with Pumas, Pointers, and $7,000 vintage dead-stock Nikes from Chung's personal collection). In back, apparel from Hundreds Public Label, Stussy Deluxe, and GoodenoughUK hang in cubbies built to match the Victorian manor building's original wood paneling and fireplace. "The store's actually not as slick as it looks in photographs," insists Cardenas. "It's meant to look handmade, yet expensive." A good mantra, whatever city you're doing business in.

Ubiq, 1509 Walnut St., Philadelphia, (215) 988-0194, www.ubiqlife.com