CBGB has cleaned up its act and gotten a new infusion of style – menswear designer John Varvatos launched a shop at the old site of the rock landmark over the weekend.
And punk preservationists will be glad to hear that the Bowery site – which once hosted such pioneers as the Ramones and Blondie – hasn’t been sanitized beyond recognition.
The stage is gone, replaced by a tailoring shop, but it’s encased with gold Alice Cooper records.
And those who remember the walls encrusted with posters and stickers will be relieved to find them intact and preserved behind glass.
With the designer’s head-banger cred – he counts MC5 as his favorite band, writes a music column for British GQ and features Alice Cooper, Velvet Revolver and Cheap Trick in his ad campaigns – Varvatos has made the site equal parts museum and retail space.
“I wanted to combine music, fashion, memorabilia and really make it like a cultural space,” he told The Post.
Varvatos is doing just that by featuring his lines of clothing and accessories, and his work for Converse, while also offering for sale items such as vinyl records, new and vintage audio equipment from the ’70s, rock-photography books and memorabilia from his personal collection.
Imagine what guitarist Slash’s living room might look like, and you’ll get the picture.
“I like it. I’m relieved,” said Arturo Vega, creative director for the Ramones, who has lived around the corner from the club since 1973.
“We were expecting a drug store in the space,” he said. “So when I found out it was Varvatos moving in, it was a relief.”
Mutual acquaintances put Vega together with the designer to add memorabilia to his decor.
The space had been empty for a year when Varvatos asked the landlord if he could look at it.
“Within 15 seconds, I thought, ‘It’s gonna be a bank. I gotta do something here,’ ” Varvatos recalled.
The designer takes his music seriously. The space has a small, movable stage where he will promote upcoming artists at monthly concerts, and the company is working on partnering with a radio station to broadcast from the store.
“Last week we were working and two kids from Stockholm came by, backpacks still on, just from the airport, and for their first stop, they wanted to see CBGB,” he said.
“I want those kids to come here. They don’t have to buy anything; that’s not the intention. I want them to come in here and feel like, ‘Wow, this is really cool. I can still feel it, I can still smell it, I can still get that aura.’ “