Now Open: Earnest Sewn Buzzes with "A New Hive"

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It seems only yesterday we were trespassing in the bedroom of some teenage girl, but now the scene in the backroom of the MePa's Earnest Sewn has gotten even sweeter. "A New Hive", will focus on the dwindling number of honeybees and Colony Collapse Disorder by showcasing actual bees and donating funds from purchases to charities teaching beekeeping skills as a means of alleviating poverty.

Duck through the a-frame entry of 250 honey jars, and you'll be entering yet another genius art installation/ retail store/ cause awareness hybrid to make you ponder other things than the purchase of $300 denim. Curated by Derrick R. Cruz of the accessory label Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons, the installation will buzz off on July 31, but not before selling some cotton totebags and clothing, haute candles from DL & Co., and gold honeycomb jewelry crafted by Cruz himself. Maybe you'll even spring to purchase some of the vintage entomology cases from Obscura Antiques? Probably not though, as this is a traveling exhibit on its way to Los Angeles and Berlin.

Although the center of the room is supposed to play host to a honeycomb of 3,000 bees, they were not in residence when we visited. Instead we were struck by the abundance of live moss strewn about, and how this would be such a paradise for spiders were it not temporary.

We've often reported on the many other pop-up shops in Earnest Sewn's past, like Ruffian, Moscot, Repetto and Trovata, but this isn't their first stab at charity work. Rogues Gallery clothing went down this road in the past with their ES concept shop-in-a-shop, highlighting "Stewards Of The North Atlantic," a charitable project promoting awareness for the endangered Right Whale.

So we've had whales and now bees; how much longer until Hayden Panettiere bring in Dooney & Bourke to set up a handbag shop for the sake of baby seals?
· A New Hive [Official Blog]
· Bees on the Brain [Racked]
· Now Open: Getting Ruffian At Earnest Sewn [Racked]
· Now Open: Moscot Has a MePa Moment [Racked]