Heritage, personality and exploration. For almost two years, these have been the core principles that have guided Martin Li in establishing and growing Komune. The fashion retailer is small but mighty, single-handedly championing a new way to shop in the high-fashion industry. 

Li, a recent alum of the Stern School of Business, opened the Komune storefront with his childhood friend Brandon Fogarty in September 2023. Located in the Lower East Side, which hosts a vibrant fashion scene, Komune aims to be a fashion-oriented community space that speaks to its name, derived from the word “commune.”

Its mission is exemplified through the socioeconomically diverse crowd Komune attracts — surprising for a store that sells high fashion, which usually demands a steep, inaccessible price. Inside the bustling store, you will find fashion-frenzied, dream-shrouded teenagers who will most likely not buy its exceptionally curated pieces, adults with a shopping appointment with one of Komune’s fashionable staff members, window shoppers who fell captive to the storefront’s enticing design as well as the occasional influencer, riding the Komune craze.

On a basic level, Komune is a fashion retailer that sources and sells clothing from emerging designers across the world. Although Komune is a small business, it carries brands based in Asia like Korean brand XLIM, as well as those from Europe, such as the Danish brand O.Files. Some of Komune’s favorite brands have earned a “reserved” section in the store, where its new seasons are available, while the rest cycle in and out. In addition, Komune hosts pop ups, parties and events in collaboration with its favorite brands, with its most recent collaboration being with Blackmerle for New York Fashion Week. 

Heritage can be understood as Li’s desire to cultivate a communal culture among his team members and customers at Komune. His shop is as much a store as it is an art gallery, social club and even a tea house. Immediately upon entering the store, you will be offered tea, with a lounge area surrounded by plants nearby where people can be observed sitting and talking without appearing to have any interest in leaving. 

Li also wants to emphasize “personality” and human connection by making a commitment to employing a friendly, approachable staff — in contrast to impersonal, corporate brands. 

“We don’t want to just be a store called Komune that sells clothes,” Li said. 

This value was born out of Li’s sense of not belonging anywhere while he was growing up as a teenager with an affinity for high fashion. He specifically referred to his frequent commute from suburban Massachusetts to New York City during high school, riding the Metro-North Railroad on weekends to shop at Rick Owens. 

“It felt like you didn’t belong anywhere,” Li said of high-end fashion stores. “That’s the opposite of what I want our space to feel like.”

Thus, in a defiant rejection of this reputation, the employees at Komune are the opposite. They are open, non-judgemental and most importantly, have a genuine respect for the art of their workplace. 

For Li, prioritizing exploration means “to be curious in an academic sense” and to approach managing his business from a multidisciplinary perspective. Alongside studying business at NYU, Li studied art history at the College of Arts & Science. He fell in love with the major, and now applies that knowledge to Komune’s YouTube channel, where he posts videos analyzing and discussing the emerging brands featured at the store.

It is clear that Li has taken on the role of bridging the gaps between high fashion and everyday customers through his storefront. However, he said Komune is still a work in progress, and that he is open to trying out anything and everything in a youthful, entrepreneurial manner.

“[Komune] is constantly changing, and run by young people who don’t know what the fuck they’re doing either,” Li said. “We’re trying to figure out what we want to be right now.”

Contact Luke Adelson-Yan at [email protected].