VARVATOS ROCKS
Spinning turntables, electric guitars, and old stereo receivers join fine tailored suits and leather jackets at John Varvatos’s new store in the old locale of legendary New York rock club CBGB, which closed its doors in 2006. CITY met up with the designer Tuesday before the store opened to check out the preserved graffiti walls and rock memorabilia, and to talk to this rock ’n’ roll fan in the place where he feels most at home.

“If it wasn’t a labor of love, it would have been too commercial,” Varvatos says of the new location, which is more a celebration of music than a store. The retail element is there “to pay the rent,” he says, but he was careful not to bombard customers with apparel right as they walk through the door. When Varvatos learned that a bank and a drug store were bidding on the site, he decided he couldn’t let the site be desecrated, and bought the space. After all, he’d spent many nights in the club watching The Ramones, The Damned, and The Psychedelic Furs, among others. Hundreds of vinyl records from Varvatos’s personal collection are for sale as well, and share shelf space with shoes and denim, while the label’s watches and sunglasses are positioned in cases with headphones, music books, and concert posters. Varvatos kept much of the space untouched, and added his own elements like signed copies of each of Alice Cooper’s gold and platinum records, which now hang above where the stage used to be. And just so the music never dies, he’s already thinking of ways to host concerts in the space.

“It’s very emotional. It’s so much fun to watch people’s faces,” Varvatos says. “People are coming in to celebrate. They are able to enjoy it on a bunch of different levels.” Still, the designer understands that some CBGB fans will have a hard time dealing with change: Someone has already spat on the window—but hey, that’s rock ’n’ roll. —RENEE LUCAS

315 Bowery, New York. Go to www.johnvarvatos.com

Postscript: That photo above of Varvatos on the stage at CBGB isn’t exactly new. CITY photographed the designer at the club back in 2005 for an interview in our spring fashion issue. Click here to view the story.

SHOOT CITY MAGAZINE'S NEXT TRAVEL ISSUE COVER
Admit it: On your last vacation you took that one perfect photo—a picture so beautiful, so stunning that you still swear it's good enough for the cover of a travel magazine. Well here's your chance to prove yourself right. CITY's second-annual ONE CITY, MANY DESTINATIONS travel photography contest boasts the ultimate grand prize: CITY’s cover shot. Amateur and professional photographers from around the world are invited to submit for juried competition images that best capture a unique moment in the life of a city or other travel destination. A jury of internationally renowned photography and travel aficionados will pick one winning image to appear on the cover of CITY’s Fall ’08 Travel issue, on sale September 30, 2008.

The grand-prize winner will also receive a prize package that includes an all-inclusive, week-long trip for two to Austria. The Austrian Tourist Office will pick up the tab on the whole experience—from round-trip airfare to rooms at luxury hotels to dinner at the top restaurants in Vienna, Salzburg, and wherever else your journey might take you. The best part? While in Austria, the grand-prize winner will have the opportunity to shoot a sponsored-editorial travel photography story for CITY's 2009 Spring Travel issue.

The work of 15 additional finalists will appear in a special travel photography portfolio inside CITY’s Fall ’08 Travel issue. All finalists will win additional prizes. Last year, CITY received more than 4,000 entries to the inaugural contest, with New York–based photographer Konstantino Hatzissaros’ stunning image of two Burmese monks (above) winning the coveted spot on CITY’s cover.

To enter this year's contest, visit www.city-magazine.com/photocontest