NOW OPEN: Michael Kors Is Bright And Shiny On Madison

Michael Kors must get some kind of special recognition for launching not one but two major flagship stores on two different continents at the same time. Of course instead of the shop that just opened on Monday on Madison Avenue at 68^th Street, the designer decided instead to focus first on his new Paris store so he could throw a big bash there last night during Fashion Week. Who can blame him for not passing up the opportunity to dress a small platoon of celebrities and models for a giant photo opportunity? Presumably, the plan was to have a similar soiree in New York a few weeks ago, but New York City construction is done when it's done, and it just wasn't in time for that.

But back to the store at hand. Some have reported that this will be a flagship for all of Kors' many product lines, but it would appear that they are confusing this location with the other Michael Kors flagship set to open later this year on Fifth Avenue at 49^th Street in Rockefeller Center. This one is clearly meant to be nothing other than a lavish outlet for Kors' top women's collection, and how it  succeeds. While the store makes good use of the designer's boilerplate white and gleaming chrome decor used in his many more moderately priced "lifestyle" boutiques, it is luxe-d up with zebra patterned rugs and fluffy mongolian lamb throw pillows. The otherwise crisp but neutral interior serves as a suitable backdrop for more opulent showpieces like a sleek snakeskin coat or a buttery soft leather trench suit. Images of glamor icons like Lauren Hutton in her 1970s heyday remind shoppers exactly from where Kors' sunny, but slightly decadent aesthetic stems.

While Kors' previous location near the Carlyle Hotel was certainly nothing to sneeze at, his growing preeminence as a designer brand now calls for exactly this sort of cozy brand palace on exactly this section of Madison Avenue. We suppose he should thank Lindsay Lohan for unwittingly helping former resident Emanuel Ungaro's then management to run that brand into the ground, but by now, it almost seems like this is where Kors was always destined to wind up —right in Manhattan's lap of luxury.

Michael Kors 790 Madison Avenue at 68th Street, Upper East Side