As the well-known aphorism goes— two heads are better than one. And pixie-haired proprietors, Wendy and LaRae Kangas, of the new downtown boutique Duo are on a mission to prove just that. Having honed their fashion curatorial skills at other popular New York boutiques, these Minnesota natives now have their own three-week-old store, nestled amongst some of the East Village’s best shopping destinations— neighbor to Fabulous Fanny's and Local Clothing. Stocking an impressive mix of rare hand-picked vintage, from Moschino to Dior, and up-and-coming independent designers, the new girls on the block also keep a solid focus on putting local goods in the limelight— utilizing New York and Los Angeles-based brands manufactured in the United States.

Joining the sisters for a first look at the store, psychoPEDIA chatted with the blonde beauties on their favorite American-made clothing and accessories lines and other dynamic duos:

Where did you get the name Duo?
L: Duo is for the modern and vintage mix. And then, of course, because of the two sisters, we’re also a duo. It’s a double duo!

What are some of the standout US-made lines you carry?
L: Our feature line is Keller. She makes things like a little shirt-dress, schoolboy blazers, skinny-strap racer back— layering pieces, with small details that make it special.
W: Her name is Kelly Clark, and she lives in Williamsburg. Her stuff is very simple, and it’s all produced in Midtown. She does shoes, as well.
L: She gets them produced in LA at a dance shoe-making factory, so they’re extremely comfortable and basically melt to your foot. Her motive behind everything is to be very simple and easy to wear, and that’s our aesthetic, too.

Any other unique apparel brands?
W: We carry an organic line, Velvet Leaf, by two sisters based out in LA. It’s the only line we have that’s not New York-based. They’re in their 20’s and are just starting out. We really want to help smaller lines that aren’t selling at the high department stores and other stores around here. They do fun pieces like a V-neck t-shirt with cut-outs on the sleeves and cutesy rompers. The line has a younger feel to it. We also carry an East Village designer who’s just finishing school at FIT— Sah Cavalcante. He does garments like dark, Victorian-inspired silk chiffon shawls.
L: His pieces are all handmade by him personally.

What about locally-crafted accessories?
W: Our feature jewelry designer is Wendy Nichol, who lives in Park Slope. Her pieces are handmade out of her studio in Soho. She uses metals like sterling silver and 24k gold vermeil. A stylist recommended her to me, and since then, she has blown up and a few celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, and Amy Winehouse, have worn her pieces.
L: We also carry Anna Kula, who lives in the West Village. All of her hats are high quality wool and handmade at her in-home studio. We love her floppy wool berets, which are super soft.

Do you believe there’s a distinct difference between US and foreign-made garments?
W: Yes, in the fabrics and how pieces are sewn together.
L: And polyester— we won’t go there. Comfort-wise, the fit is a better, and natural fibers just feel better.

Are you two into the eco-conscious clothing movement?
L: We’re green friendly— with recycled and vintage garments— so we wanted to carry at least one organic line. It works, because it’s what we wear. And we didn’t want to have to stick to an era.
W: We have flannel shirts next to silk capes from the 1900s.

Being sisters in addition to co-workers, do you ever bump heads with the direction of the store?
W: We are very collaborative when picking out pieces, since we are so tight with each other.
L: We try on every single piece of our vintage. We’ll pop out of a fitting room, look at each other and say, “I just picked that out!” We’ll creep ourselves out a little bit.
W: Too much time together…

Since you guys are two-rific, who is your favorite superhero duo?
W: Batman and Robin.

Musical duo?
W: Johnny Cash and June Carter.
L: Adam Green and Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches— they’re a good description of us.
W: The Ying Yang Twins.
L: We have every album!

And last but not least, favorite designer duo?
W: We love YSL and his partner, but we’re more into the real people over the super high-end, although we love fashion and get a lot of inspiration from it.
L: Velvet Leaf—that’s a real duo in fashion now, and it’s inspiring because they’re doing it all themselves.

~Leann Peterson


First, second, third, and sixth photos by Leann Peterson