• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, December 18, 2016

I mean, why not? Russell Simmons' strangely named agency Narrative_ has launched House of Narrative_, a curated concept shop that "champions artistic expression and bringing stories to life."

Explaining the store, Narrative_ Co-Founder and CEO Tricia Clarke-Stone said: “House of N_ is an opportunity to share our access, inventions and creations from our work with clients and cultural arbiters, and to test new product concepts and ideas, while engaging with the community. It's a consumer-facing extension of our in-house Innovation Lab – prototyping is part of our DNA and this shop gives us a platform to conduct real world beta testing.”

The shop features items like the much-loved “N_” cap by Under Armour, custom classic viewers featuring images from luminaries like hip-hop photographer Jonathan Mannion, and a line of enamel lapel pins bearing some of Tricia's signature sayings.

In addition to those not-available-anywhere-else items, House of N_ will be a showcase for the agency's innovations, like Iris, their “Holler At” app built for Amazon Echo that will automatically send an email to anyone in a contacts list upon command.

House of Narrative_ will also feature select items that will be auctioned off for charity. The first auction items will be a limited-edition collection of skateboard decks, signed by Russell Simmons and celebrating cultural mashups in music, art and fashion – the Art on Deck collection. All proceeds will be donated to the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.

Simmons added, “We have built a different kind of agency, one that champions art, technology and popular culture to build living, breathing brand stories. With House of Narrative_, we're inviting everyone to be part of the collaboration we’ve created, and hopefully elevate their gift game a notch or two while we’re at it.”