The materials and open floor plan of the 1,000 square foot retail space remain simple, allowing the clothing and accessories to be displayed in a gallery-like setting. The shop can be curated freely, and changed depending on the collection and season. A long curving transparent acrylic wall lightly defines rooms for the Ready-to-Wear and accessories collections, while maintaining a view of the entire space. The life of Madison Avenue is also visible from the interior, daylight from outside flows along the acrylic wall’s gentle waves, reflecting the colors of the fabrics and street.

Nearly a year and a half after opening the flagship store on Crosby Street in SoHo, Derek Lam collaborated once more with Pritzker Prize winning architects, SANAA, and local executive architect Toshihiro Oki to design the Upper East Side boutique.

“I am excited to be opening the second Derek Lam store on Madison Avenue,” says designer Derek Lam. “Being accessible to both the uptown and downtown customer is essential in New York, so it was a natural progression after establishing the flagship store in SoHo. This is my latest collaboration with SANAA, whose ability to create a space that is minimalist yet warm has become part of the Derek Lam aesthetic.”

“We joined the second Derek Lam store project as friends of Derek and Jan- Hendrik ,” says SANAA who met award winning designer Derek Lam in 2005. “Following the image of the SoHo store, we wanted the second store to fit the scale and dynamics of Madison Avenue. It was also important for us to integrate Derek Lam’s clothing into the store design.”

Jan-Hendrik Schlottmann, CEO of Derek Lam International, LLC says, “We have learned so much about retail since the opening of our first Derek Lam flagship store in Soho. We’ve really got to know our customer much better and we’re looking forward to applying these very valuable lessons on Madison Avenue, the most exciting shopping location in the world.”

Photo Dean Kaufman