Svbscription
Andrew Apostola on the latest iteration of the men’s quarterly shipment
As CEO of Svbscription and co-founder of Portable, Andrew Apostola is a man of sophisticated tastes. Along with Marc Goldenfein and Samuel Wheeler, Apostola set out earlier this year to introduce Svbscription to the modern gentleman, carefully curating a quarterly package of lifestyle goods. With an annual cost of $1,150, the investment—and the expectation—is high. The value comes from the sweat that is put into sourcing each piece, scouring trade fairs and developing relationships with makers to create worthwhile goods. With the proliferation of the subscription models we’ve seen a range of similar services, but Svbscription continues to stand out for its quality eye.
The third installment of Svbscription, which was unveiled this week, took “leisure” as a guiding theme. The contents include a cotton robe from The White Briefs, the latest issue of Victory Journal, a set of Balancing Blocks from Fort Standard, a lapel pin from Henson and a pocket square from Bespoken. Asked if he believes in the notion of “universal taste,” Apostola explains that Svbscription is built around the idea that the objects are meant to find their way into a subscriber’s lifestyle. “We bring our guys on a journey,” he says.
While he rarely wears scents, Apostola claims that their collaboration with Le Labo for the second issue resulted in his favorite piece to date. “I think for me, Le Labo was a real standout,” he says. “They’ve been around for a while, but they’re sort of a cult brand.” Svbscription worked with the perfumerie to create distressed metal canisters engraved with each subscriber’s initials.
In the long run, Apostola is interested in the disruptions caused by online shopping in the retail world. “We’re trying to mimick the Barney’s personal shopper,” says Apostola, hinting that the online experience will eventually move to more personalized tastes. For now, Svbscription is shipped in a standard package, and is mainly a vehicle for discovery. “People are inundated with choice—brands that were never accessible before are now available,” says Apostola. “But that creates a choice problem.” More than anything, Svbscription aims to be the solution.
Images by James Thorne
