A month or so after it's official opening, I finally got a bit of time to bike down to the LES last Saturday afternoon to chat with Brian Janusiak, co-owner of the latest addition to the ever hip neighborhood that stretches from just below houston to the far reaches of Chinatown.

The new store, named No. 8b (38 Orchard Street / 1 212 925 5599), will be a further exploration of the aesthetics and ideas introduced through their first store, Project No. 8.

The store features a roster of menswear collections by designers including Bless, Kostas Murkudis, Maison Martin Margiela, Mykita, Natalia Brilli, Raf Simons for Eastpak , Schiesser, Stephan Schneider, and Various Projects. In addition, there will be new collections from Christian Wijnants and Tom Scott being introduced for the Fall/Winter Season.

The store is gorgeous and a great addition to the every burgeoning landscape of men's only stores in the city. If you shop at the other men's stores in town, you'll know the collections that Brian and Elizabeth have introduced at No. 8b are lines that you won't find many other places in town, and in some cases nowhere else at all.

Such is the case with Kostas Murkudis, who's collections and collaborations I've admired online for some time, but haven't seen them in person before. I just read that Murkudis used to work for Helmut Lang, which makes perfect sense. While the prices aren't cheap -- suits before markdown were around $2,500 -- the line is incredible: the fabric, the detailing, the cut, the fit. Well done and not another hipster line making pieces that look like every other hipster line. If you're in for a nice suit, shirt, or pants, stop by and check it out. You're going to love it.

Additionally, sometimes Murkudis collaborators Schiesser's shirts caught my eye. Schiesser you may or may not know is a 130 year old German label that's been sold at local German shops until a few years back, when they decided it was time to take the high quality line a little more mainstream, teaming up with the likes of Murkudis, Adidas, and Yohji.

Says the NY Times about the line done with Murkudis: The concept is designed to work both indoors and out. The common denominator is 100 two-ply Pima cotton that is mercerized, a chemical treatment process that adds a special luster to the clothing. Murkudis's cuts are loose but form-fitting and give the impression of being well-worn, even when worn for the first time. Trust me, the price is right and the shirts are impeccable.

Various Projects has a line of dress shirts you'll want to check out and don't forget the Margiela shoes and sneakers. I'm dying for a pair of the old school low top sneakers in white.