NEW YORK — Considering Rebecca Taylor is not known for loud colors or bold statements, it’s fitting that her first store evokes her signature delicateness.
Opening today in Manhattan’s NoLIta neighborhood at 260 Mott Street, in what realtors referred to as a “vanilla box,” the 1,100-square-foot space now has walls covered with hand-painted birds, butterflies with kimono fabric-type wings and a patchwork-pattern unicorn. The designer doesn’t want to take all the credit for the girlish touches, but she did find the hands that painted the colorful images.
Taylor recruited artist Shona Heath, whose collaborations with photographer Tim Walker in Italian Vogue impressed her, to paint the store’s interior. Part pre-Raphaelite, part Art Nouveau, the finished project was a big hit with the designer. Heath has agreed to do something similar in Taylor’s 22 concept shops in Japan.
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Some of the merchandise in the new store will include items that are currently only offered in Japan. Coin purses with rosebuds or soft leather appliqués, purses, shoes, hosiery and jewelry are available. As someone who takes at least six trips abroad each year, Taylor said she wanted to sell “a variety of things that make people feel happy and inspirational,” in addition to her clothes.
With its quaint streets and a backyard garden, the new location reminded Taylor of side streets in Paris. After a four-year search, Taylor decided the nearby SoHo area was too oversaturated and that the Meatpacking District is for destination shopping.
The designer hopes the NoLIta store will attract new customers, since area stores do not carry her clothes. Beaded tops, pants with grossgrain ribbon detail and sexy dresses are expected to be popular with shoppers, said Beth Bugdaycay, director of Rebecca Taylor.
“People normally come to us for Rebecca’s special details — the little touches that make Rebecca’s pieces very identifiable,” Bugdaycay said.
First-year projected wholesale volume is at least $1 million, she said. Taylor hopes to open additional stores, but has not secured any other sites yet.
“We’re very measured with our growth,” she said. “We don’t like to get too crazy. We’ll wait to see what the reaction is and will go from there.”
The designer will be roaming the sales floor at the new store to glean some information from her shoppers.
“I plan to spend a lot of time there picking people’s brains — in disguise though, so they will tell the truth,” Taylor said.
— Rosemary Feitelberg