Cos for Celebration

Cos raw edge wool coat
$240

Throw away your BoHo, ladies, 'cause Cos is coming. H&M's smarter, more sophisticated, grown-up-style sister is making its way to the United States. A shop-within-a-shop (known in the trade as a sub-shop) has popped up in Opening Ceremony NYC, a high-falutin' hip boutique that delivers the goods to the style obsessed.

Cos chambray top
$95

Cos is an affordable mash-up of Marni, Celine, Jill Sander, classic Calvin Klein and my favorite minimalist, Vince. In other words it's shape over smocking. Lines are clean and fluid, less body-hugging and more skimming. Fabrics are pure in feel if not 100%— jerseys, silk and wool mostly. Colors are Biba-muted with a little pop for shock. Designs are clever without being ground breaking. Everything looks great on the skinny models. Cos is not priced at the H&M level. Granted, Opening Ceremony's shoppers are not mass market, but offerings run from $40 for a simple silk layering top to $310 for a black batwing sleeve coat. A leather shirt for $300 looks gorgeous.

Cos overlapping
front blazer
$185

While writing this I opened the Opening Ceremony website to check on prices, and my computer started running unbelievably slow...

This pop-up will be in place in New York and on the OC website for about a month. Cos itself plans to open in the US in 2014. At present its own website does not ship stateside. But when Cos is everywhere will it be so mouth watering?

This reminds me of the Great Coors Lust of the mid-1970s. When we easterners couldn't get the Rocky Mountain elixir, it sounded like nectar of the gods. Then an obscure NYC distributor scored a shipment, and we drove 100 miles round trip for a couple six packs. It tasted good, but it also tasted like the gasoline we burned. Nowadays I laugh at Coors. "That's beer?????", I say as I sip my tulip of Ska Autumn Mole Stout.

Will having Cos at the mall water down its impact? Or will it give us absolutely no excuse not to look sleek and chic?

Is this where Cos gets inspired?