Five Fits with: Tal Silberstein
A conversation with the co-founder and Creative Director of Colbo.
Tal Silberstein had a huge 2025. Colbo expanded with a wine bar, Colbo Next Door, and Silberstein spearheaded a collaboration with Zara, in addition to his long-standing partnership with dockside-footwear-legends Sperry. Over a coffee outside the shop back in November of last year, he told me that he’s been collecting records and clothing since he was a child. “I’ve been thinking about clothing from a merchandising perspective since I was very young.” He notes that this is interesting because neither of his parents work in creative fields. His father comes from the steel industry, and his mother works in education. He’s also the oldest of five, so to break from the usual lucrative and steady professions on offer was a unique and risky move.
Given he dreamed of opening a store his entire life, he did so as soon as he could. In 2015, he opened his first store, a record shop that he deemed the first iteration of Colbo. “It was my first opportunity curating a space and a community around that space, making a store that’s something a little bit more than a store with a multidisciplinary aspect to it, with records and some clothes and magazines and to have people come hang out,” he said while fondly reminiscing. At the same time, he worked for some fashion designers while also studying drawing and sewing. With this determination and experience, Silberstein’s next step was to move to New York City.
Tal and I discussed his journey and growth in New York, starting with the team at the beautiful Public Records, how Colbo came to be, what makes their offerings unique, how they’ve grown, how he approaches collaborations,, his recent clothing pickups, and more.
How did you wind up in New York?
I moved to New York in 2019 after feeling like I hit a ceiling. I wanted to move here. I was in communication with the guys at Public Records and I was really excited about what they’re doing and the people I knew that were involved. I came here with the purpose of joining them to [help] start Public Records. I’m not a founder, but I was definitely part of the founding team and it’s something that I think taught me a lot in my life in New York. They’re also very community driven. I met a lot of my people there. I learned a lot of things about entrepreneurship and business and everything from the technical to a more holistic approach of owning a place and a brand. I respect them so much and view them as my mentors in some capacity to this day.
Tell me the story of how Colbo came to be. What were you aiming to do with the space?
After a few years at Public Records, I really wanted do my own thing. I took a step back, moved out to LA and started developing some styles of clothes and some new silhouettes, buying some fabrics and exploring the idea launching some form of a brand. I knew the brand would not be just a direct-to-consumer, online thing. I wanted to make it a lot more experiential and cultural and community driven—with events, music, coffee and hospitality. After the really dark initial period of Covid, it felt like the right time to do this with people trying to gather again. I knew [there was a gap in New York with] more experiential retail.
What do you think makes Colbo’s offerings unique in New York City specifically?
First of all, we have our own brand. That’s unique for New York City. In the beginning when we had only three or four styles from one brand, so we really tried to curate a list of brands that is very unique and independent and not necessarily available in New York at all. We also have some vintage and we’re very unisex, but also very men’s and also very women. We have a very personal connection with the brands we carry. We curate in a way that is different from other stores in New York because of our specific approach to how we see styling and how we see color palettes. It’s going to be natural, neutral kind of colors and fabrics and very earth forward from fabrication to color palette. What makes it all kind of come together is everything else, whether it’s the coffee, the events, the records, the atmosphere, the sitting area, the welcoming energy that we try to convey with our team.
