Todd Snyder Will Return to New York City, Thanks to American Eagle

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If you were sad to see Gym City go earlier this year, all is not lost. According to WWD, American Eagle is bringing designer Todd Snyder back to New York City's retail scene with a freestanding store in a yet-to-be-determined location. As part of the teen retailer's $11 million purchase of his brand, Snyder will also join the company as executive vice president while continuing to run his Todd Snyder New York business.

Though the new store likely won't be a remake of his collaboration line with Champion, it was in fact his Gym City pop-up at 242 Elizabeth Street that attracted American Eagle to the menswear designer in the first place. "Roger [Markfield, executive creative director] and Jay [Schottenstein, the brand's interim CEO] walked into that store and that put me on their radar," Snyder said.

This outpost will be focused on the Todd Snyder New York line, but it's likely that it'll get some of the casual-but-stylish vibes of City Gym courtesy of Tailgate, the college campus-inspired line Snyder started with his father in 1991 that "sealed the deal" with American Eagle, the paper writes. That offshoot currently has just one store near Iowa State University.

"It's a diamond in the rough," Snyder told the paper of Tailgate. "I started the business with my dad because I couldn't find anything to wear when I went back home to Iowa for football games. It grew from there and my brother [Jamie] took it over" (American Eagle is continuing the family affair, with Jamie Snyder coming on board as well).

Tailgate is "a very interesting concept," American Eagle global brand president Chad Kessler added. "And because American Eagle is also targeting a college customer, we see a synergy between this localized college concept where we can also offer curated jeans and other American Eagle products."

That sounds a lot like what the brand is right now doing with Don't Ask Why, its one-size-fits-most pop-up shop just down the block from its Soho flagship on Broadway. Perhaps when its run ends there, some form of Todd Snyder will take its place.