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Entries tagged with 'NoLita'
Posted Aug. 27, 2008,
Staerk Flagship Boutique Opens in Nolita
By Alexis Swerdloff
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Camilla Staerk, the Danish designer behind modern-minimalist clothing line Staerk, announced today that her new Nolita flagship boutique is finally open to the public. The sparse Scandanavian space, designed by Staerk along with Erik Johnson, is black-and-white heavy, and features wood, marble and metal details. The store will sell the complete Staerk womenswear collection, as well as shoes, bags, belts and swimwear. Additionally, Staerk will reintroduce her sunglass line which she produced with Selima Optique, which she'll be peddling alongside her capsule jewelry collection. Staerk hopes the boutique will feel like a "creative space," and has peppered sculptures by Mies van der Rohe and Finn Juhe, along with glassworks by Holmegaard throughout the store. She also said that she plans to hold art exhibits in the space.
Posted Jun. 10, 2008,
Shop of the Week: ILUS
By Rebecca Prusinowski
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ILUS is a little NoLita boutique with a brilliant big idea. Recently opened on Elizabeth Street, the shop features an outstanding assortment of women’s dresses available both to borrow and to buy. It’s “luxury on lease,” if you will, and we don’t know how a shopping concept this convenient has gone untapped till now!
Owner Linda Pratka recognized the female desire to maintain a diverse fashionable wardrobe on a limited budget, and she filled the void with a boutique where a selection of au courant cocktail dresses and formal gowns can be rented at a fraction of their regular retail prices. ILUS offers a rolling inventory of about 175 unique dresses in sizes 0-10, with borrowing costs falling typically between $60-125 per garment. Which means that $400 Foley + Corinna rouched cocktail dress you’ve been eying for a wedding next month… is $65 for the store’s standard three night rental. And the $795 azalea-colored organza strapless dress with painted flower detail by Badgley Mischka (worn by Carrie Underwood on the red carpet three weeks ago)? That’s just $125.
There’s a fine array of fancy numbers from established and emerging designers, including Cynthia Rowley, Nicole Miller and Gilles Montezin. Styles range from sequined minis to flowing full-length evening gowns, and most of the present collection is vibrantly colored for summer celebrations. ILUS does carry a few (lovely) black dresses, but why go basic when you can break out a brand new canary yellow cocktail dress? There’ll be no buyer’s remorse and it’s too awesomely memorable to wear twice anyways!
Dazzling clutches and evening envelope bags by Catherine Repetti are also available for borrowing, with the same basic terms and conditions as the store’s dresses. ILUS is open seven days a week and accepts dress reservations several weeks in advance. All of the sudden now, forking over a chunk of your month’s rent for a single designer dress seems so… last season.
ILUS
248 Elizabeth St., (646) 454-1678
Posted Aug. 15, 2007,
Restaurant of the Week: The Monday Room
By Charlotte Kaiser Weinberg
The Monday Room is neither a wine bar, restaurant nor lounge, and yet somehow manages to be all three. Located within PUBLIC, chef Brad Farmerie’s noted Nolita restaurant, the Monday Room shares not just a space but the same inventive decor thanks to the stylish flair of trendsetting design firm AvroKO, co-owner of both establishments. Though a la carte options are available, drinkers and diners will do best to leave themselves in the hands of Farmerie and resident wine guru Ruben Sanz Ramiro, a charming mustachioed Spaniard. Three-course flights of wine -- available in red and white, regular and deluxe -- range from $19 to $40. A five flight with food pairings will set you back $75, but the experience is definitely worthwhile. Among the standouts at a recent, four-hour sitting: silky, raw Tasmanian sea trout with piccalilli (chopped pickled vegetables) and shichimi (Japanese spice mixture), paired with a 2005 Valdeorras As Sortes, a light-gold hued Spanish wine made from 100% Godello grapes; and crispy Dukkah (Egyptian spice blend) crusted sweetbreads with celeriac and green-apple slaw served alongside Blaufrankisch, a medium-bodied 2004 red from Austrian producer Weingut Glatzer. The space has a mere 25 seats, so reservations are a must for this true oeno-gastro experience. 210 Elizabeth St., (212) 343-7011.
Posted Jul. 23, 2007,
Fashion Heads Up: MSG Does a Body Good
By Marya Spence
Mami Suzuki is a culturally savvy, sprite little cookie of a clothing designer with a lot of talent up her sleeve. You'll want to know her name, because she's going to be big. Her NoLIta boutique MSG (which opened two weeks ago) is currently carrying her moderately priced, one-of-a-kind pieces which have graced both the shoulders of the Princess of Thailand and, yes, a regal few of us at PAPERMAG.
Originally from Tokyo, Mami is in New York on a mission to bring her Japanese, Southeast Asian, ‘70s disco and function-inspired pieces to the hub of American fashion. With its multiple influences, her style is incredibly unique -- but nothing in the store is beyond wearable. She has artfully structured wool suits and feminine chiffon blouses alongside a sparkling, champagne-hued, three-tiered dress -- a swingy disco confection I didn't want to take off. Then there's also the "Imelda" dress, named for the former Filipino First Lady, Imelda Romualdez Marcos. It's a platinum crepe, knee-length dress with detachable bouffant sleeves. Indeed, there's an intoxicating mix in this dress: it makes me feel equal parts delicate butterfly and powerful dictator. I feel suddenly pretty, yet secretly un-crushable.