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Life, liberty, and the pursuit of style– that's what America's all about, right? No store in this city understands this better than Supply & Advise, which finally opened its permanent shop in Downtown Miami.
It's a fashion bunker and soon-to-open barber shop in a 1920s setting, and Jonathan Eyal and his team worked really hard to restore it to its jazz age heyday. The building itself packs in a lot of history. It was supposedly built by Henry Flagler in 1926 when it housed the headquarters of the Illinois Central Railroad, and it later became the headquarters of Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano.
As any sartorial gent will tell you, it's all in the details, and these guys spent years scouting vintage stores, antique markets and eBay to source every decorative element inside, from the rustic army trunks and furniture to the vintage Levi's artwork found around the room.
Let's take a tour, shall we? Think of the bottom floor as the place where your cool bomber jacket-wearing army vet would shop. You're greeted by the store's trademark military mule (which the team successfully drove over from Midtown Miami without getting pulled over by the cops) which is topped with military trunks and merchandise. There's a massive section dedicated to shoes, with perfectly lined Alden wingtips and New Balance sneakers on an elegant wooden shelf. Beyond that are shelves and tables with equal parts merchandise and vintage American paraphernalia.
If you thought you were impressed with the first floor, wait until you ride Supply & Advise's ritzy elevator to the second. Think of this floor as the place that your handsome and dapper British friend would shop. Supply & Advise's tailored suits reside here, as well as a newly introduced section of apothecary products from Baxter of California, one of the first company's to release men's only grooming products.
But beyond the newly introduced Drake ties and pressed Hamilton shirts, you'll discover that Supply & Advise has a beautifully crafted bar with wine and beer (which should be your first stop, because no one likes to browse empty handed) that will be used for future store events like designer meet and greets. They even have special barware for their most loyal customers, although we will say that its average glasses for new customers are pretty spiffy too.
Upstairs is also where you'll find Supply & Advise's soon-to-open barbershop, but we'll leave out these details until it opens in the near future.
It's a beautiful addition to a Downtown that's slowly reclaiming its reputation, and definitely worthy of a visit from sartorially savvy gentlemen and American history buffs alike.