First Look: Tory Burch opens flagship in New York City
Designer Tory Burch has returned to her roots.
The luxury brand has opened a flagship on Mercer Street, in New York City's SoHo neighborhood. The designer moved to SoHo after college and, in 2004, opened her first boutique a few blocks away from the new store.
Created in partnership with Curiosity architect Gwenaël Nicolas, the multilevel, 6,000-sq.-ft. SoHo outpost reflects the brand’s evolving retail concept, while honoring its design codes. With a homey feel, the environment balances Burch's distinctive aesthetic with a modern point of view, mixing minimal and maximum, and architectural and decorative elements.
The design reimagines the brand’s signature accents of oak, rattan and brass in different finishes and tones. Simple materials are used in unexpected ways. Work by women artists and local artisans is featured throughout the space.
MORE SLIDESHOWS
GROUND FLOOR
The ground floor is defined by four main areas and features. A specially designed parquet pattern floor, made with wood and ceramic, leads into the space. Baskets suspended from the ceiling form a canopy of natural texture above handbags and accessories. (This detail was pulled from the designer’s memories of woven baskets from all around the world that hung from the kitchen ceiling in her childhood home.)
A wicker honeycomb structure, inspired by Tory's own bee apiary in Antigua, is designed specifically for handbags, small leather goods, jewelry and personal objects she has collected. Landscape artist Miranda Brooks created an outdoor garden space behind the store.
SECOND, THIRD FLOORS
The second floor features footwear and the home collection. The shoe salon is built in a circular room and features a ceramic chandelier hanging above a divan that has been redone in vintage patchwork quilts found in antique markets. Pieces from the home collection are shown in a cabinet inspired by a vintage armoire in Tory's home.
The third floor is dedicated to ready-to-wear and is reminiscent of a living room with a geometric layout, pink rag rug, floral chintz sofa and bold ceiling pattern. In other features, a hand-hammered metalwork Tree of Life motif lines the underside of the staircase.
The new offers the Tory Burch collection of ready-to-wear, handbags and footwear as well as its home collection.
"I could not be more excited about our Mercer Street store,” said Tory Burch, executive chairman and chief creative officer. “It is an evolution of our retail aesthetic, and I have loved the creative process, combining a modern space with signature decorative elements and details that are personal to me.”
Tory Burch has 322 freestanding stores, including stores in such cities as London, Shanghai, Ginza and Rome.