SoHo's full of all kinds of interesting creatures going shopping on a Saturday afternoon: celebrities, locals, foreign tourists. Competition for their patronage is stiff. But now, John Varvatos can lay claim to the awesome, hot new clientele in town: raccoons!

Yes, that's a real, live raccoon you see in John Varvatos' SoHo shop, on the corner of Spring and Greene. According to the nice lady I talked to when I called, animal control sadly took him away before they had time to name him, after a significant crowd had gathered outside. She had no idea how he got in, and no idea where Animal Control took him to.

I also inquired if they sell fur, and she said they didn't, that some of their items had shearling on it, and I was like, is that fake fur? And she was like, no, but it's like, wool. So I concluded that the animal was not going to be hastily skinned and used for a John Varvatos product.

Varvatos' trademark streak of rock and roll aesthetics in his work goes uninterrupted. After using guys like Iggy Pop in his fashion campaigns, using rock photographer Danny Clinch to shoot them, and most significantly, saving CBGB from becoming a Chase branch by turning it into one of his high-end fashion boutiques to much controversy and outcry by angry people who still thought CBGB meant something besides its status as a relic - which he preserved by keeping much of the original rock club intact - this isn't surprising. He's embracing some punkass animals looking to stir up some shit in his stores! Rock. More of this, please.

[Special thanks to our tipster Cheryl Tan, who has a blog and who is having an awesome day.]