Santino LoConte talks about passion for design and all things fashion!

Not many in the fashion business would see the landscape today, with its preference rapidly shifting toward e-commerce, as one that befits another brick and mortar store. But then, Santino LoConte isn’t just anyone in the fashion business. There’s more than a bit of the old school in him, mixed in with the broad knowledge of streetwear and his footwear pedigree.

LoConte grew up around footwear. During his youth in New York, he worked at his grandfather’s shoe store in the West Village, a family run business. “That was my introduction to shoes and fashion,” he says. “I wanted to know more and more, the way people seemed to grow relationships with specific brands and looks of sneaker or streetwear. It wasn’t just the way I expressed myself, but it seemed everyone.”

After a stint as head of global products collaborations at Pony, LoConte ventured out on his own. Hence the brick and mortar store, better known as Reign Releases, opened in November 2017 in NYC’s Meatpacking district. It quickly expanded into a second location at 10 Corso Como. And yes, there is an online shop too.

LoConte wanted the physical shop precisely because of what he understands as a very tangible relationship people have with clothes and shoes. And for sure, both locations reflect his sensibilities, with the original sites showing off a sleek, “post-Apple” minimalism; while 10CC bears the influence of street-level, hip-hop-centric looks that have overtaken fashion over the past few decades. And for sure, it is interesting to see high-end lines like Louis Vuitton and Alexander Wang converge with this grittier sensibility, as they do at Reign.

“That’s really where my passion is,” says LoConte. “I don’t just think it’s a good business model to have a brick and mortar store; I think there’s no other way to build a loyal connect with consumers. When people visualize themselves wearing fashion, they aren’t thinking of themselves just in a vacuum. It’s normally in some kind of relationship to the space, to the streets they’re walking, the places they’re going to. It’s why people like me love their look so much. And I’m thrilled to be part of that world.”