Printemps opens in NYC, bringing French flair and fashion to Wall Street
The Red Room. All photos courtesy of Gieves Anderson for Printemps New York
Parisian retailer Printemps opened its first United States concept in New York City this week. The 160-year-old French store has taken over two floors of One Wall Street, a 50-story Art Deco tower in the Financial District that is now home to over 500 luxury apartments. Designed by architect Laura Gonzalez, the 55,000-square-foot concept is made to feel like a whimsical interpretation of a Parisian apartment, with five food and beverage experiences, beauty and treatment rooms, clothing repair, and more, bringing together retail, dining, hospitality, and culture under one roof.
“New York offers a dynamic mix of cultural diversity and global influence, making it the perfect location for our brand’s expansion and the introduction of our new concept,” Jean-Marc Bellaiche, CEO of Printemps, said in a press release.
“Printemps New York represents a completely fresh approach—it’s not a department store. We are redefining traditional concepts of retail, and as a result, it stands apart from any other retail concept in the world.”
The first floor of Printemps New York includes the Red Room, a spectacular space that originally served as the banking hall of the Irving Trust Company. In 1931, mosaic artist Hildreth Meière designed the triple-height room to feature sparkling glass mosaic tiles in red and orange across the walls and ceilings. Last year, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which called the Red Room a “glittering, sculptural jewel box,” designated the space as an interior landmark.
With the opening of Printemps, the public can access the landmarked room for the first time in over 20 years.
Because of its landmark status, the Red Room’s walls could not be touched. Gonzalez and the Printemps team envisioned an innovative freestanding forest of flowers, made from ecological resin, to house shoes. Cut-out metal flowers create a “lace-like” canopy and a gold mosaic “river” leads to the adjoining cocktail bar, the Red Room Bar.
The design involved unifying the landmarked Art Deco tower and its extension, which was built in the 1960s. There are oak wood floors inlaid with natural stone, vintage-inspired Art Nouveau tiles that take on an old Printemps pattern, and tabletops that look like marble but are made from compressed recycled plastic from the fashion industry.
“We were very inspired by the heritage of Printemps – the mosaics, the stained glass, the patterns, the original art – but this is in New York,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a new story. It’s a city where everything is possible. I don’t think this project could have been designed anywhere else because New York is very special. Here, there are no boundaries.”
Printemps New York has 10 distinctly-designed areas. A separate undulating glass entrance on Broadway opens into the marble Playroom, with casual wear, gifts, and the immersive “Sneaker Room.” The Salon features women’s ready-to-wear and accessories and La Garçonnière has menswear. The Beauty Corridor, offering French pharmacy brands, will connect to the Salle de Bain spa and the Boudoir, housing vintage, evening clothing, and fine jewelry.
Printemps offers five food and beverage concepts led by Chef Gregory Gourdet, a Queens native with a Haitian background. Masion Passerelle is an 85-seat fine-dining restaurant with a menu inspired by the influence of French colonization of former territories, with French cuisine intertwined with flavors of West Africa, West Indies, Vietnam, and Canada.
“The menu at Maison Passerelle reflects a lifetime of culinary exploration and experiences,” Gourdet said. “It combines the rich flavors of Haitian cuisine, which I have passionately worked to share with the world, the French heritage of Printemps, and the in-depth research we’ve conducted on cuisines of regions formerly colonized by France.”
“This unique perspective will be thoughtfully infused into the offerings at every outlet, creating
something truly exciting and distinctive.”
Managed by Gourdet and Kent Hospitality Group, Cafe Jalu is a 25-seat all-day restaurant, with fresh juices and pastries and Salon Vert is a 32-seat raw bar. There’s also a Champagne Bar and the Red Room Bar, a cocktail lounge with 25 seats.
RELATED:
