Meet Subdued, the Latest Brand to Hit Tween Row (original) (raw)

By ,a writer at the Strategist covering Gen Z shopping habits and fashion. She joined the Strategist in 2024. Previously, she wrote about gifts at Shop Today.

Additional reporting by Kitty Guo

Soho’s “Tween Row,” the one-block stretch of Broadway between Broome and Spring Streets, is a roll call of sorts for all the stores where a teenage girl might want to shop. In recent years, newcomers — Edikted, Princess Polly, and Garage to name a few — have joined longstanding tenants like Brandy Melville and Pacsun. Just in the last six months, the block has (re-)welcomed Lululemon (which reopened in a new storefront a couple spots down from its old one) and played host to Pink’s grand opening, which was complete with bedazzled thongs and Abbode embroidery. But when I noticed a new (to me) brand called Subdued was moving into Save the Duck’s old spot across the street from Pacsun, I was intrigued — and apparently, the teens were, too. Ever since the store opened in mid-April, it’s been packed with tweens and teens shopping for fold-over leggings and sequined tank tops. “I just hope it’s a little less crowded the next time I go,” Jada Maisonet, a teen who lives in Manhattan, told me.

As our Gen-Z correspondent, I wanted to know more about the brand that has swiftly made its way onto teenage girls’ shopping hit lists, so I spoke with some fans, along with Subdued’s North American vice-president of digital and marketing, Olympia Scott, and the CEO of the North American arm of the brand, Lupo Sconciaforni, to understand what, exactly, Subdued is.

To put it simply, Subdued is an Italian clothing brand that caters to tweens, teens, and young women. Scott and Sconciaforni both used the words “elegant” and “chic” to describe the clothing, but the brand also tries to “surf the trends,” as Sconciaforni puts it. (At the moment, the Soho location is crawling with polka dots, camo, and a bunch of teal pieces that look like they’re right out of the movie Aquamarine.) Subdued is big in Italy, of course — 18-year-old Mia Zvulun told me she started shopping there after she and her family moved to Turin five years ago because “everyone was wearing it” — but it’s also a hot spot for teen shopping in the U.K., Germany, and France.

You can see evidence of the brand’s Italian roots in décor throughout the Soho store.Photo: Bella Druckman

Before the brand opened its two United States locations (in addition to Soho, there’s one at Long Island’s Roosevelt Field mall), Scott says American shoppers typically learned about the brand through, say, the “cool cousin who did study abroad in Florence who comes back with a full Subdued wardrobe.” Now that American teens can shop the brand in person, she still describes the Subdued shopper as international. And, like most teenage girls I interview, Subdued shoppers seem to be on top of the trends: “Our girl is stylish; she is trendy. She’s really looking at socials. She’s very engaged with either creating content or watching content,” Scott says.

I’ve heard differing opinions about how to pronounce the name of the brand, but it turns out it’s pronounced exactly as you would think. “The Italian pronunciation brings you more to pronounce it like Subdu-ed,” Sconciaforni says. He hopes that, as the brand becomes “more international,” everyone will pronounce it the “Anglo way” — as in, with just two syllables.

Subdued’s product range spans everything from sequined bikinis and smocked minidresses to two-piece sweatsuits and spaghetti-strap tank tops. At the moment, it’s most famous for its sequined wing print, which came up with just about every girl I chatted with. “It started as a hoodie, but that became so viral that they turned it into shorts, sweatpants, zip-up hoodies, and a tank top,” Maisonet says. When she last visited Soho’s Subdued location with her friends, she bought the sequined tank top and her friend bought the hoodie. When I asked Scott and Sconciaforni about the origin of the design, Sconciaforni pointed toward the trend-tracking creative department, which I’d be willing to bet was inspired by nostalgia for 2016.

Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products? Success! You'll get an email when something you've saved goes on sale.

Yes

New! You can now save this product for later.

Subdued also has a selection of jeans — early-aughts-level low-rise pairs and jean shorts are prominent at the moment — along with a crop of cheeky tees with phrases that feel drawn right out of Tumblr, like “It’s Just Not That Serious” and “I Love to Make Boys Cry.” Like other stores on the block, the Soho store also has exclusive–to–New York pieces emblazoned with phrases like “I <3 Soho” and “New York You’re Perfect.”

New! You can now save this product for later.

It’s no secret that Subdued and the rest of the stores on Tween Row are all catering to the same customer. (Sconciaforni says, “We all sell similar products to a similar target audience, but we all differentiate ourselves in different circumstances.”) However, during my conversations with Subdued enthusiasts — and even when I overheard girls shopping in the store — the brand was repeatedly compared to Brandy Mevlille. In fact, when I first heard about Subdued, it was framed as an “Italian Brandy Melville,” which is ironic because Brandy Melville is also an Italian brand.

While the stores look similar at first glance, they’re decidedly different when it comes to their designs. As Maisonet sees it, Subdued has “slightly more artsy pieces. They have stars and they use eight balls and cheetah print.” Brandy Melville, in comparison, “plays it safer,” she says. When I walked into Brandy Melville last week, it, too, was overrun with polka-dot and aquamarine pieces, but it had far more plain tank tops and tees. Unlike Subdued with its angel wings, Brandy Melville doesn’t have a “signature” piece. Shoppers noted the quality was better at Subdued, too. “I’m a victim to Brandy, and I’ll give them all my money knowing that their quality is shit,” says content creator Sarah Ong, who owns about ten pieces of Subdued’s clothing and says both the baby tees and hoodies are thicker and higher quality at Subdued. “I feel like Subdued ones are more comfortable, more intentionally made,” she adds.

Subdued’s trend-forward pieces are on display near the front of the store in Soho.Photo: Bella Druckman

When it comes to the clothing itself, the sizing is just slightly more inclusive than Brandy’s one-size-fits-very-few cuts: While most tops are available in sizes two through six, pants seem to range from a size zero to an eight. “We have a really young customer that’s probably just graduated from a junior’s collection,” Scott says. She recommends sizing up when it comes to denim.

It seems like this is just the beginning for Subdued’s presence in the United States. Sconciaforni has his sights set on California and Florida down the line, but at the moment, he says, Subdued is focusing on New York — specifically on the brand’s third U.S. location, which will be on Fifth Avenue by Union Square. “It’s actually right next to Sephora, so that’s important, probably,” he says. The store is slated to open later this year.

New! You can now save this product for later.

Very Good Deal

New! You can now save this product for later.

The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.

Meet Subdued, the Latest Brand to Hit Tween Row Your product is saved! You’ll receive emails when your saved products go on sale. Manage preferences.