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Hot Fashion From Way Back When
In our generation, what you wear sometimes defines who you are to the outside world. Clothes have become an art form — a true statement maker. The right piece can speak volumes about a person and what they stand for. A T-shirt is no longer what you wear to cover your bare skin, but what you want the world to think of you.
Giorgio Armani once said, “The difference between fashion and style is quality.” When you walk into the quaint shop on Maple Rd. in Birmingham — Revive — quality is all around you. Aaron Cohen started Revive about four years ago when he came back to his home state from New York and couldn’t find many places to shop. At the time, Cohen was in town for the Tigers World Series and didn’t have much to do with his spare time before games but wander aimlessly around malls and shopping areas. Now his store, originally tucked into a Birmingham side street, has become a favorite for streetwear enthusiasts. “Now we’re in the heart of Birmingham,” he says.
Revive currently carries Billionaire Boys Club, Pharrell’s Ice Cream line, The Hundreds and others. But that didn’t happen overnight. Cohen said it took a while to obtain his coveted accounts in order to stock his store. Besides a plethora of the hottest clothing brands in street wear, Cohen’s shop is the only store in Michigan to have a sneaker consignment program. “I put some shoes from Japan in my window when I first started and that led to a lot of people walking up,” says Cohen, who boasts of his unique personal sneaker collection. “That’s how I really got started, bringing shoes that Michigan [stores] never had.” It’s no secret that sneakers are a hot commodity in the world of streetwear. Brands like Nike have catered to their fans and regularly release limited quantity shoes. Metro-Detroit sneaker-heads can purchase a VIP pass to be the first to see such rare kicks, and some pairs are even available before their official release date at other stores. Part of the VIP package includes being able to come in and purchase the consignment shoes before the pictures hit the web for non-Michiganders to buy. The shoes are always sold at box price, which means they have a short shelf life.
Cohen and partner, Ben White Levin, aren’t done either. They have plans of expanding and opening a few branches of Revive in other cities, but for now they are enjoying the vast increase in traffic since their move to Maple. Cohen mentions he’d like to have stores in Florida and Toronto and eventually the west and east coasts. “I set the bar kind of high for myself,” says Cohen, who still has many things to accomplish with Revive.
There is no real story behind the boutique’s name other than the obvious. “We were trying to bring something to life as far as this culture,” he said. And Revive has helped do just that. The streetwear generation is alive and well in the Metro Detroit area. All it needed was someone to Revive it. | RDW
154 W. Maple, Birmingham • 248.731.7849 • revivemi.com • Monday through Saturday, 11 to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
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