It may sound difficult to upstage a $25 billion development – one that is essentially a whole new New York neighborhood – but this Dallas-based clothing boutique has managed to garner everyone’s attention.
Forty Five Ten boutique achieves cult status in NYC. Photo by: Max Burkhalter
Forty Five Ten has always been considered one of the best fashion boutiques in America. With locations in upmarket areas like Aspen, Napa and Miami, the business chose to open its first New York outpost as part of “The Shops” in the brand spanking new Hudson Yards.
When Hudson Yards was officially unveiled last month, so too was a central art installation called The Vessel which cost $200 million to complete. Images of this walkable focal point (one must climb 154 flights of stairs or 2500 steps to reach the top) have been trending on social media – but it has also quickly been overshadowed by photos from inside the cutting edge boutique.
Hudson Yards’ Forty Five Ten boutique becomes Instagram hit. Photo by: Max Burkhalter
Peruse the Hudson Yards geotag on Instagram and you will notice snippets of the 16,000 sq ft sensory retail experience. Separated into four distinct stores, visitors can expect to find a space dedicated to womenswear, menswear, high-end vintage, and emerging new designers. While the designer garments and accessories on display are undoubtedly remarkable themselves, artwork and installations from luminaries of the modern art world, like Jose Dávila, Al Freeman, Lars Fisk and Katie Stout, are further luring in curious shoppers.
The concept for the stores came to fruition thanks to the boutique’s revered President and Creative Director, Kristen Cole, and her husband, Joe, who is Senior Vice President of Retail and Hospitality at parent company Headington Companies. The couple collaborated with design firm Snarkitecture on innovative details such as a counter made from sustainably-dyed alpaca wool, glass brick storefronts and patterned marble floors and walls.
Remember the infamous pink wall in Los Angeles where everyone poses for an Instagram photo (also known as the exterior wall of the Paul Smith store)? Forty Five Ten’s glossy pink walls and alcoves are fast proving to be the East Coast equivalent.
It seems the unavoidably enticing photogenic interiors were no accident either. In an economy where traditional retail is having to pull out all the stops to remain relevant, this fashion-meets-interactive art experience has been planned to a T.
“The response on social media has been great,” Cole told Lonely Planet. “The way we integrate art, fashion, and design into our space is unlike anything shoppers have seen before in a setting like this, so we’re glad everyone has been coming by to see the store for themselves and sharing it with their friends.”
Claim your next outfit, or at least your next outfit pic, now.
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