LIVE AT FIVE: THE CLASS ROOM

Thanks to a business card given to me at a networking event recently I was reading a blog that linked me to, menswear shop, THE CLASS ROOM. After viewing a few items on their website and thinking “It’s almost that time of year  for the fellas to pull out their Timberland Earthkeeper City Escape joints and rock them out with some of the goodness THE CLASS ROOM has in stock…” - My mental style hunt (and borderline run-on sentence) came to a complete stop when I realized THE CLASS ROOM was in the city…HOUSTON to be exact. And with that I figured it was perfect timing to feature THE CLASS ROOM as LIVIN’ IN THE FUTURE first “LIVE AT FIVE” interview. Thankfully I was able to catch up with Co-owner and President of THE CLASS ROOM to give details on his establishment (An establishment that was extremely needed in the Houston area…right at the intersection of distinguished and street wear).

“LIVE AT FIVE” = Five questions asked to and answered by those making their mark on the style scene.

1) Name: Jon Caballero, aka "Cabby".  Co-owner and President of THE CLASS ROOM 

2) Location: 2534 Amherst St. Houston, TX 77004 (Located in the Rice Village Shopping center, across the street from La Madeleine and next door to the Soho women's shop)

3) Give LIVIN’ IN THE FUTURE readers more info about your company/brand:

We opened our doors in November 2011.  There are 5 of us that are partners in this venture, and most of us were into sneakers and streetwear culture before.  As our tastes and personal style changed, it was harder and harder to find things in Houston that catered to what we like.  As we got older our styles started to develop a more classic aesthetic, as opposed to the the "dope boy fresh swag me out" street style.  There's nothing wrong with that, if that's your thing, but it just wasn't us.  At the same time, we weren't trying to rock suits and wingtips every day.  That was the other end of menswear spectrum.  Our daily lives didn't require us to be super dressed up all the time.  So we're in this place in our lives where we want to dress more like grown ups, but we don't want to be boring and wear dad jeans and t-shirts everyday.  

That being said, we'd see all these cool stores and brands online with stuff that we'd like, but it was hard to find that type of thing being done in Houston.  Since we felt like we weren't the only guys that were looking for this type of stuff, we decided to open up a shop.  Don't get me wrong - there were and still are great boutiques that came before us and continue to do well.  We just felt like there was a niche that needed to be filled.

The long term goal of The Class Room is to develop a respected brand recognized nationally, built on quality products and honest and friendly service.  We want to be one of those shops that when people visit Houston, they make it a point to visit the shop.  

4) What’s the look for FALL 2012 in THE CLASS ROOM?

We've got a few new brands coming in for Fall, namely Gant Rugger and Norse projects, that we're pretty excited about.  We're also trying to go deeper with the brands we already have in store so that we can offer more styles.  We're continuing to offer pieces with modern takes on classic menswear pieces.

5) What inspires you to press on?

We just want to be the best.  We've sacrificed a lot to get where we're at, but we're still a very young company and there is a long way to go. If we don't give it our all, we are going to fail...and failure is not an option.

Thanks again for the interview Cabby!

So HOUSTON-we no longer have “that” particular problem…visit THE CLASS ROOM and pleasantly step your style game up a notch (or ladies assist the gent in your life).

Find THE CLASS ROOM on the web HERE