Today is the official launch of American Eagle’s 77Kids Style Lab shop in Times Square, and while that’s not a sentence I ever thought I’d utter with any level of excitement, after getting a sneak press preview yesterday I gotta say…I’m excited.

Let’s just say the ghosts of CBGBs are in there somewhere, hold the nasty dressing rooms.

When you walk down the industrial staircase right towards a giant
LCD screen projecting music videos featuring the kids in the shop, Jib-Jab
style (kids can take pics in a nearby “rock band” photobooth), you know this is no
ordinary mall chain store. This is a concept shop, and the concept is interactive digital playspace meets rock n roll factory of coolness,
executed with the perfect balance of hard edge and not-too-skeery for the tourists.

Kids
will have a blast pulling levers around the store that make denim jeans
move on conveyor belts or “run” giant washing machines, even selecting
the store’s music on giant touch screen panels. (Don’t worry, it’s more
The Clash and Lynryd Skynyrd, not the Wiggles.) The digitized photobooth
is going to be a huge hit too, and every kid gets a token that she can
pop into a converted Cigarette machine for a teeny box of Nerds or
Lemonheads.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, this is not American Girl Shop.

The 77kids
clothes of course, some designed just for this flagship store, are the
real star of the shop and I am in love with so much of it: little faux
leather motorcycle jackets for babies, funky hoodies with Steve
Sprouse-esque graffiti, grungy NYC tees and lots and lots of denim. The 0-18 month line is as hip as the stuff for young kids and tweens
which is always a treat for new moms. And I have to give extra props to
77kids for not making every “girl” item pink and sparkly.

I also love the partnerships they have, with hip books and carefully curated accessories on
display like those from Joanne Dugan and the vintage This is…NY series. Also? Robot keychains.

My favorite item though has to be a line of rockin’ swaddlers designed just for the store by aden + anais. So smart.

Of
course the one downside for us jaded New Yorkers is that we have to
haul our kids to Time Square to go there. But if you ever needed an excuse to visit the heart of Times Square with your kids, this is it. Just
don’t let me catch you eating at Olive Garden when you’re through. –Liz

Get a look at the American Eagle 77kids
line for fall on their website where shipping is free with orders
$100+. And if you’re in NY, don’t miss the new Style Lab shop at 1551
Broadway.