A Cut Above

Minimalist shirt brand Cuts has settled in nicely to its temporary Seattle home at Periodic: A Pop-Up Shop, the rotating pop-up space at The Regrade. Founded in 2016 by Steven Borelli, the men’s clothier fills a void in the market for men’s t-shirts that can take you from the office to a night on the town and everything in between.

“When the company started, business casual for office attire was on its way out and t-shirts were becoming more acceptable. Our founder had trouble finding a shirt that he liked—one that was crisp, didn’t have a ton of branding on it, was made of nice fabric, and was presentable,” explained Ethan Frame, brand director at Cuts.

What came next was the development of the brand’s high-quality tops, which are made with its own custom PYCA™️Pro fabric. Cuts shirts are available in three different designs, or “cuts” (curve, elongated, and split) and three necklines (crew, henley, and v-neck).

At Periodic, the space is clean, sleek, and easily shoppable. Frame said that he’s found Cuts time at Periodic to be invaluable.

“We’ve never had the opportunity to see how people ‘shop by cut’ in person. We know to a science how they shop online and the colors that they’re gravitated towards, but we’ve never been able to see that in a retail setting with our own eyes. We can see which cuts and colors they like, see them feel the product in their own hands, and answer any questions they have. It’s been really cool to engage with them in a physical sense.”

Melissa Gonzalez, CEO and chief pop-up architect of The Lionesque Group, and MG2 Company, is the curator behind Periodic.

“Periodic: A Pop-Up Shop is a space for brands to test what it might be like to set up shop in Seattle, or for established local retailers to see how a South Lake Union location would perform. It’s been exciting to see the wide range of concepts that have gained Seattle fans via their time at Periodic; for example, electric bike company VanMoof now has a permanent space in the area, and we saw tremendous success with a Woodland Park Zoo x Amazon Horticulture collaboration. Even during a pandemic, Periodic provides continuous confirmation that brands want to engage with new audiences, and consumers want to discover new brands.”

You can shop at Cuts at Periodic: A Pop-Up Shop through March 28.