★ Union Street Shop

New Orleans is a city, packed to capacity with oddities and wonders to anyone who visits. It's exciting to discover these hidden gems, but it can also be difficult to distinguish the one-of-a-kind from the dime-a-dozen tourist traps. Roulé is here to help! Part of our mission is to showcase the small shops that give the city its character. So, whether you're a native or a visitor, these spots are worth a visit.

CITY SPOTLIGHT: Union Street Shop

New Orleans was once a style desert in comparison to the coastal centers for fashion. Even in terms of streetwear, it was difficult to find a physical place offering rare brands like Supreme or A Bathing Ape. The teams behind rising local brands, Freewater and Like Sushi, realized this void in the market, and decided to take action. Near the end of 2016, they came together to open Union Street Shop, a unique shopping space that offers rare and vintage men’s clothing and sneakers.

Instead of buying wholesale from clothing companies, Union Street Shop buys a majority of its merchandise through fashion and sneaker collectors. This allows the shop to stock rare and vintage clothing items. Many of the products that are sold at Union Street Shop would be nearly impossible to find in other clothing stores or thrift shops.

You can find releases from Freewater and Like Sushi among their other goods as well. With Union Street becoming the home base for both teams, local followings of each brand can maintain a community around the shop thru releases and events. Freewater operates their photography studio within this space as well, which steadily grows their visual clientele.

Visit Union Street Shop next time you are in the New Orleans Downtown area, and interested in what you could possibly find there. You could also follow their instagram where they regularly update their story feed with all of their daily releases. In my opinion it is the best use of this feature that I’ve seen since it was introduced, and I commend them on that innovation.