FEATURE: 10 Years in Retrospect

FEATURE: 10 Years in Retrospect

Marissa Villamor

On a warm Las Vegas summer night, four friends believed that there should be a place where music, art, and fashion can live harmoniously and stand out against unoriginal chain stores. This small idea evolved into a decade full of growth, milestones, and community. In 2010, FEATURE opened its doors to the public giving fashion, music, art, and sneaker culture a home. The heart of Chinatown in Las Vegas became our base and first location. Adapting the mantra “ALL THINGS GOOD,”  we have used this throughout the curation of our brand matrix, special projects, and community. 

As the brand continued to grow, expanding the brick and mortar stores was the next step. Being a Las Vegas-based brand, it was only natural to look at locations within the hometown. In December of 2018, the Wynn became home to FEATURE’s second location. Within the Wynn Plaza Shops, we cater to a new form of clientele seeking elevated styles within a contemporary setting. Some aren’t able to venture out of the Strip; therefore, we brought FEATURE to them. This location gives seasoned travelers the experience of our top tier customer service and a range of exclusive designers. FEATURE’s footprint continued to expand and in 2019, California homed the third brick and mortar location. Located at The Commons in Calabasas, FEATURE opened its door to the coast by bringing the City of SIn to the City of Angels.

Throughout our history, we have collaborated with iconic brands ranging from Saucony, Billionaire Boys Club to Vans Vault and more. Along with those projects, we have held a handful of events. One catering toward the week of the AGENDA Trade Show held yearly in Las Vegas to celebrate peers and brands in our industry. Held at our original Chinatown Location, we hosted our version of Taco Tuesday, providing food and beverages for all attendees and our local natives. We continuously strive to grow and evolve to expand our brand all over the world. To commemorate our milestone, we’d like to look back on the work we’ve created at FEATURE and our accomplishments and milestones throughout the years.

FEATURE X SAUCONY

Known for their heritage in footwear, Saucony became one of the first brands added to our roster. In 2014, we collaborated on our first sneaker project, the High Roller - the trifecta of sneakers we then went on to create cultivated the ‘High Roller Pack’ highlighting the G9 Shadow 5 silhouette popular within Saucony’s history. The collaboration was influenced by casino chips ranging from $100-$1,000 values featuring a unique color palette alongside premium materials and details throughout. Each shoe correlated with a particular chip, which inspired the design. Taking on the black and salmon color for the $100 chip silhouette, hues of purples for the Barney, and shade of tan and orange for the Pumpkin; all three create the High Roller Pack.

Moving forward, the next project took place in 2016 with two shoes referencing beloved breakfast essentials. The Breakfast Pack consisted of the Bacon & Eggs and Belgian Waffles. Both models were based on the Saucony Courageous silhouette, which featured premium suedes, full grain leather and nubuck accents. Reflective details and unique branding ties in the breakfast inspired designs together. 

In 2018, we brought an extinct marine reptile back to life utilizing the Shadow 6000, dubbed theLiving Fossil.’ Drawing inspiration from Nevada’s fossil, the Ichthyosaur, the silhouette is accented with beryl suede, nubuck upper, water-resistant panels, and holographic details. The sneaker hones all details of the water animal creating a one of a kind look.

Our most recent design had an extraterrestrial take on Saucony’s Shadow 5000. The Dreamland capsule draws to Las Vegas’ mysterious yet well-known “Area 51.” The mixture of different all-black materials illustrates the mysteries that Dreamland embodies alongside glow in the dark details. To celebrate the release, we turned our Chinatown location into a mini-laboratory to commemorate the launch. 

FEATURE X UNLV

Our local community helped shape who we are today and we will always pay homage to our hometown. In 2018, we began our partnership with The University of Nevada, Las Vegas curating multiple deliveries based around the '89-'90 Runnin' Rebels basketball team. Holding the title as the first and only team to score 100+ points in the NCAA Championship game, defeating Duke 107-73, our ever growing collection features a range of bold graphic tees, accessories, and memorabilia.

Our latest collection is our Fall Winter 2020 Drop that takes the 1990 Championship Game as inspiration for the whole graphics collection. The silhouettes include a range of our cut & sew tees, Champion Fleece apparel, and accessories featuring scarfs, hats, and duffel bags. The collaboration contains photos of the ‘89/’90 Runnin’ Rebels with signature UNLV branding, along with the slogan “Rebel Madness!” 

Staying true to our roots and giving back to our local community, our FEATURE x UNLV collaboration is an exciting partnership as we have been releasing seasonal collections throughout the years. We look forward to releasing more collections in the years to come. To see the entire collection, click here

FEATURE READY-TO-WEAR

We expanded our offerings throughout the ten-years by providing a collection of ready-to-wear apparel contrasting the fashion industry’s graphic-heavy designs. Beginning in 2016, we’ve created our own in-house ready-to-wear line where we produce core everyday essentials. The ideology behind the deliverable was: essential everyday garments made with quality materials at an affordable price.  All of the garments are made 100% domestically in Los Angeles, California.

Some of our core pieces within the collection include the Proto, Kelven, and Braque Tee. 

The Proto silhouette is an exaggerated fit with a vintage/disheveled look. For a more standard fit silhouette, our Kelven tee will be your next essential tee. Made to fit regular length, the top features a 20 single thread count and a serrated neck collar for optimization of comfort. 

With every new RTW style, each garment is named after an important artist in history. We find it essential to highlight artists’ accomplishments by honoring those creators within our naming processes. Our newest addition to our ready-to-wear line-up, the Braque tee, is inspired by the Cubist artist Georges Braque. The silhouette is made up of a dry textured jersey with a straight and wide fit. 

Through design, fabrication, and construction, our RTW collection fills the void of closet essentials.

FEATURE x DIADORA N.9000 ‘PISTACHIO’ 

In 2016, we celebrated our first Diadora collaboration with the FEATURE x Diadora N.9000 'Pistachio’ release. The sneaker was inspired by Pistachio Gelato using mint colors, with gold and speckled accents seen throughout.

To commemorate the launch, we teamed up with our friends at Extra Butter in New York City to bring our Gelato shop to life. We partnered up with Billionaire Boys Club for an exclusive capsule collection as well as Mikey Likes Ice Cream to complete the concept.

FEATURE x BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB

We kept ourselves busy in 2016 by joining forces with BBC on a capsule inspired by our FEATURE x Diadora ‘Pistachio’ silhouette. We were able to combine the iconic arches and astronaut motifs of Billionaire Boys Club with the stylings of the Diadora Gelato Pack. Mint and pink details are found throughout the design, highlighting the brown base inspired by a waffle cone. Gold detailing adds further contrast tying in all three companies together on one tee.  

In partnership with our Saucony G9 Shadow 6, we also joined forces with streetwear giant Billionaire Boys Club on the “High Roller” capsule inspired by Las Vegas nightlife. The capsule showcased signature BBC branding from the arch logos and astronaut motif while encompassing a series of casino chips inspired by the sneaker silhouette. During the 2014 collaboration, we wanted to highlight Las Vegas and the culture while maintaining BBC’s DNA.

Our relationship with BBC has grown over time, creating deliveries celebrating different occasions. Some other projects we’ve worked on include the ‘Fight of the Century,’ a design commemorating the Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather fight in 2015. We’ve also collaborated on a limited-edition apparel capsule with Billionaire Boys Club to honor our Wynn Plaza Shops opening in 2018. 

FEATURE 5.5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY 

In conjunction with the Diadora and Billionaire Boys Club collaborations in 2016, we also celebrated our 5.5 year anniversary.  This celebration took place at the Foundry that is located inside the SLS Casino. The event included live performances with artists including Oddisee, DJ J. Espinosa, Chase B, POW, and more. We wanted to host an event that encompassed our All Things Good mantra and a place where fashion, music, and art could be combined. 

The festivities that took place during this moment in our timeline is significant - it rewarded the company and showed that their hard work was making an impact on the local community. As much as we love to work hard, we also want to share our accomplishments to the city that helps build who we are.

FEATURE X VANS VAULT (PART I + II)

In 2018, we had the opportunity to collaborate with skateboarding's giant, Vans Vault to introduce our "Sinner's Club" concept. Our first 'Sinner's Club' project takes inspiration from the Gentlemen's Club. Utilizing Vans Vault's silhouettes, the Old Skool LX and OG Classic Slip On, the collection is rounded off with track suits and accessories from Mitchell & Ness.The shoes were designed with luxurious materials of premium suede and velvet construction of black, plum, and red colors. Highlights of the metallic side stripe and velvet panels take characteristics of the clubs.

A year later, we released the sequel of the Sinner's Club story that played along the same theme of our local Las Vegas nightlife and The Strip glimmering lights. Showcasing the Old Skool LX and the Authentic LX, our silhouettes feature luxurious materials of velvet and glittering details. Compared to the first Sinner’s Club, the second delivery pays homage to older Vegas and the classic elements that Downtown Las Vegas inherits. The collection also included a range of our in-house ready-to-wear pieces, New Era caps, and accessories. In 2019, we brought Vegas to Long Beach with our Sinner's Club installation giving ComplexLand attendees the first look and chance to purchase the collection.

THE FUTURE OF FEATURE

Throughout the past ten years, we look back on our accomplishments and recognize that we would not be where we are today without our community. Since 2010, it has been our goal to curate a place of “ALL THINGS GOOD” and be the best resource for all things music, fashion, and art. We would like to thank our team for a decade of FEATURE and we would like to thank you for being a part of that journey - here's to even more growth and more years in the future!

More Editorials

See All