As designers prepare to present their fall 24 collections next month and the days become longer making us anticipate swapping out our winter woolies for spring weights, those of us living in city apartments might wish that our closet space was a little more accommodating. Or how many times do we open up boxes that we thought were well-sealed and, to our dismay, discover moth holes in our luxury cashmere? Perhaps we dream of enlisting the services of a full-time archivist? For a certain luxury consumer Uovo is realizing that dream and solving all these problems.
Founded by art collectors in 2014 in Long Island City, where it has a 280,000-square-foot facility, Uovo owns more than a dozen state-of-the-art storage facilities for fashion from personal collections to legacy brand archives. The spaces are temperature-controlled, air-purified, and monitored to ensure the long-term preservation of textiles, garments, footwear, and accessories, as well as the prevention of material damage from pests. Each item is inspected, cataloged, photographed, and packed to ensure the highest level of preservation.
Another service for frequent travelers offers to pack, ship and deliver the client’s luggage to their destination and return it to the storage facility after the trip where dry cleaning and laundering are arranged. Uovo offers the same services for storing wine or art, and it has even established the Uovo Prize, a grant for artists in partnership with the Brooklyn Museum. The Uovo client manages everything from afar, in the case of the fashion client, via the MyCloset app. Uovo hatched just as the movement grew to preserve our clothes instead of buying new and replacement items, and as seasonless dressing has become the new norm. The company has already bought out wardrobe concierge competitor Garde Robe and acquired a stake in premier wine storage firm Domaine. Fashion is a key area of expansion for Uovo so FashionUnited spoke to co-founder Steve Novenstein to understand more about the client roster which already includes Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Thom Browne, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera and Jason Wu.
Why did the company focus on the three areas of art, fashion and wine?
Uovo, pronounced “woh-voh,” is derived from the Italian word for egg, a symbol of fragility. Our name reflects Uovo’s core mission to be the finest stewards of our clients’ most precious collections, taking the utmost care in transporting, maintaining, and storing every piece we are entrusted with. What unites each of these three categories is that they require superior care and storage in ideal environmental conditions in a most secure building.
Who are Uovo’s fashion clients, and are they also storing art and wine?
Uovo fashion clients are brands preserving their archives, collectors with unique pieces, and private clients who enjoy our “endless closet” service that allows them unlimited closet space and an ability to swap items in and out frequently. There is significant crossover between art, fashion and wine and we take great delight in serving our clients in the best possible manner.
Are there certain geographical areas where you have more fashion clients than others? For example New York living spaces are notoriously small…
We do have clients all over the US and many of them with a homebase in New York. We also have a significant number of clients in Los Angeles and a growing group of clients in South Florida.
What percentage of your fashion storage is devoted to the collections of an individual versus the collections of a design house or museum?
The volume between brands and private individuals is split pretty evenly 50/50.
