New York, the twins are taking over.
Less than one year after making their official foray into fashion with the launch of Phe Phe, famed influencer sisters Brigette McHale and Danielle Pheloung are opening the doors to their first pop-up. Situated in the heart of SoHo, the immersive store, created in partnership with Shopify, will bring customers beyond the screen, taking them through a realistic day in their life featuring a “get ready with me” corner, an office quadrant, a gym and a coffee bar.
Debuting inside the pop-up is their latest collections, composed of workwear and activewear. Items in the workwear line include double-breasted vests, the Danielle blazer, the tailored maxiskirt, the Danielle trouser, the high-neck blazer dress, the ruffle top and the trouser mini short, with prices ranging from $78 to $198. The studio edit includes the halter top, the halter bra, the low-rise pant, the gym short, the shrug, fleece half-zips and more. Prices start at $45 and go up to $98.
The retail experience is also coinciding with the launch of their new claw clips, $20 and the Bombshell brush, $30, as well as the restock of their bestselling hair roller set, $45.
The new Phe Phe Activewear collection.
Those familiar with Brigette and Danielle will recognize the store map follows a similar cadence to their daily vlogs on TikTok, especially the ones from a few years back when Danielle was still clocking hours at Goldman Sachs, sharing her “5 to 9 before 9 to 5″ routine, while Brigette was pursuing fashion content full time, inking deals with the likes of L’Oréal, Amazon, Tarte and beyond.
Their lifestyle, then and now, continues to power the Phe Phe strategy today, Pheloung told WWD. “Phe Phe was always supposed to be a natural extension to us, our lives and our community. That’s why we’ve been able to grow so fast and have this positive reaction from everyone because it’s just a part of us,” McHale added.
Phe Phe’s new beauty assortment.
Indeed, the brand has seen significant growth in under 12 months, with the expansion of its garment selection and the introduction of beauty.
Beauty, McHale said, was the natural next step after the first few fashion launches. “It’s a nod to how I built my following online, which is crazy. I built my following through hair roller tutorials, and so the hair rollers made a lot of sense,” she continued. “But we’re not trying to become a beauty brand overnight. We’re thinking about what fits into our life. We’re definitely excited about what’s to come. It’s just the beginning.”
Phe Phe workwear.
Speaking with WWD ahead of Phe Phe’s debut, McHale likened building a business with her sister to “unlocking a superpower.” A year later, and the sentiment still stands.
“We have very different instincts, which I think makes the end result stronger,” McHale said. “One of us might come in with the beginning of an idea [for a campaign] and the other immediately starts thinking about how we can make it bigger or funnier or more unexpected. We’re sisters, so we have no trouble saying, ‘I don’t think that works,’ or completely changing an idea halfway through because ultimately we both care about getting to the best version of it.”
The process of bringing the first Phe Phe pop-up to life was no different from that of their campaigns. Asked if this in-person activation signaled the future of their brand’s retail footprint, Pheloung said: “This physical presence for Phe Phe marks the beginning of a much bigger world for us. We started with a very specific product and a very specific point of view, and we’ve been able to grow that into something that touches so many different parts of our lives now. We want to create way more experiences and build a community through these physical interactions with our customers.”
Moving the Phe Phe community offline is essential to the longevity of the business, said Ashley Leo, president of Phe Phe and founder of The Leo Group. “We’re able to see firsthand what customers are responding to, what they’re trying on, what they’re buying and what they want from us next. That insight can then inform everything from product and merchandising to content and marketing,” she continued.
The Phe Phe store is open now through Sunday at 131 Greene Street.
