“There’s such a wide breadth to what I do,” he said. “What we found is that the things people have gravitated toward on Crosby Street, everybody gravitates toward.”

Lam’s SoHo flagship has been flourishing, despite the difficult economy. He tapped Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese architechture firm Sanaa to design the Madison Avenue store, which is between 65th and 66th Streets. In May, the Sanaa principals were awarded the 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

“The plan was always to get ahead on the retail front,” Lam said. “We want to make a stand and show that we’re committed to retail and believe in [retail].”

A long, curving transparent acrylic wall is the main feature of the new space. The wall defines rooms while allowing a view of the entire space. “Instead of enclosing the space, Sanaa came up with the idea of leading people from the front to the back by creating a wall,” Lam said. “People will come into the space and be intrigued by all these little rooms. [The wall] moves them around to find that treasure.”

The Madison Avenue store will house the full collection of ready-to-wear, shoes, handbags and jewelry. Lam wants to design more eveningwear, bridal and accessories for his stores and is collaborating on jewelry with two artists, Pilar Olaverri and Thomas.

“Crosby Street is my spiritual home and the house of Derek Lam’s headquarters,” he said. “I developed a really great following uptown. Madison Avenue is the mecca of shopping. There’s a validity that what I do can be uptown. Originally, we were thinking we’d do a store in Los Angeles or in Europe. New York is still my home and where my inspiration comes from. I want to be hands on with retail. I was kind of inspired by Rag & Bone opening a few stores in key neighborhoods in New York. Instead of saying, ‘You have to come to us,” we’re saying, ‘We’ll come to you.’ We’re embedded in the community.”

Lam never expected Crosby Street to generate huge traffic, but consumers seek it out. “Two days ago an Australian gentleman came in at his wife’s request,” said Lam. “He made our numbers for the month. He pushed us way above what we were expecting.”

Lam may venture to China before opening another store in the U.S. “I did an extensive trip to China,” he said. “I wanted to see what was going on. I was totally amazed by Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou and how cosmopolitan the population has become. It’s going to be a very important place for us. I’m going back in October and I’m really excited about the possibilities there. The consumer is looking for someone like me, who isn’t as ubiquitous as some of the other brands. I think it’s the right time and the right moment.”

Lam said Vienna-based Labelux Group, which owns a majority stake in his company, supports his retail vision. “When they came on board,” he said, “they believed in the retail model we proposed.”