FRENCH IMPORTS: Maison Kitsuné Makes Its American Debut

The Shophound wandered into the higly anticipated new Maison Kitsuné store at the NoMad hotel yesterday only to be told that though the doors were open, the store was not. However the staff kindly invited us to have a look around anyway. They didn't go all lout and invite us to the opening party at LeBaron, but, you know, we take what we can get. Anyway, we can report that though modest in size, the boutique adds a certain flair to what continues to be one of the most strangely eclectic shopping neighborhood in the city.

For those unfailiar with the 10-year-old Kitsuné brand, it is both an apparel company that makes classic, even preppy styles filtered through a refined French sensibility and also a music label. The music side of the business is out of the spotlight in the new store which uses the elegant 1,200 square foot space to showcase the pricey but beautifully made men's and women's apparel collections along with exclusive shoes and accessories made for the store by labels like Want les Essentials de la Vie and  Pierre Hardy. We did not see the special edition J.M. Weston loafers that are reportedly being offered exclusively by the store, but we did glimpse a charming pair of multi-colored handsewn moccasins made for the brand by Maine shoemaker Quoddy.

The new store features a crisp and tidy restoration of the corner store at Broadway and 28th Street with a spanking new parquet floor and glowing globe shaped fixtures. It makes a nice companion a couple of blocks away for Opening Ceremony (which sells Kitsuné in its other locations), though the neighborhood still makes for an odd fit for the refined little shop. Only steps away are still an abundance of cheap wig and janky accessory dealers, and for all the hip folks who work in the nearby Flatiron district or in the home furnishings showrooms over on Fifth, there are just as many street vendors milling about because this is still the neighborhood where they buy their cheap sidewalk sunglasses and dodgy perfumes. We can't tell if the the NoMad and the Ace Hotels and their complementing boutiques will be able to completely remake this odd stretch between Greeley Square and the Flatiron Building into the next Meatpacking District, or even if that would be a good thing, but for now, it is probably the only part of town where you can get a $1,499 Liberty-print silk dress and a cheap bargain wig with some designer impostor perfume on exactly the same block. That must count as a unique shopping experience.

Maison Kitsuné in the NoMad Hotel 1170 Broadway at 28th Street, Midtown