Last week, we reported a rumor that Kate Spade was planning to launch a lower-priced line that, according to the Daily News, would be positioned to compete with C. Wonder, Chris Burch’s big, bright (and controversial) concept chain. I mentioned something about how I hoped it wasn’t too much like C. Wonder, which, as I admitted, I had never been to because I find the singing and dancing employees a tad overwhelming and scary. I just don’t particularly like overstimulating environments and overly-enthusiastic, aggressive employees make me uncomfortable. Since I’d never been there, I didn’t know if they actually were aggressive, but it just seemed like they would be and they were always standing right at the entrance so I knew I’d have to deal with them!

Well, the next day, Chris Burch emailed me saying he read the article (eek!) and invited me to meet him at the Soho store to experience C. Wonder firsthand. [Ed. note: We think this is pretty awesome of Chris Burch.] So I went. Read on for my more informed assessment of the store, some things I learned about the brand, and what Burch had to say about its inspiration, competitors, and what’s next.

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