Brooklyn structure studio SO–IL has remodeled a cavernous area contained in the neo-gothic New York Life constructing right into a flagship retailer for Issey Miyake.
The shop on Madison Avenue gives a brand new dwelling in Manhattan for the Japanese vogue model, which held its earlier Frank Gehry-designed location in Tribeca for 25 years.
SO–IL co-founder Jing Liu described the ambiance within the area as “clear, exact, audacious,” reflecting Issey Miyake’s modern and experimental strategy to vogue and tailoring.
The dimensions of the open inside quantity matches the monumentality of the 34-storey constructing’s limestone exterior, which was designed by architect Cass Gilbert and accomplished in 1928.
“Visually, there will not be many ‘designed objects’ within the area, however key parts are built-in and work in a vital means with the prevailing constructing parts,” Liu informed Dezeen.
For instance, a steady aluminium rail spans throughout the constructing’s grand arched home windows, whereas large studded-steel columns create a rhythm and symmetry for the perforated metallic instances that home ceiling-mounted companies and lighting.
Nearly all of the ground space is left open, in order that the attention seeks out clothes displayed on customized freestanding aluminium rails and glass-topped, castor-mounted tables.
“We tried to not have the fixtures and structure stand in the way in which of the clothes, which ought to be the principle present and the one which modifications with the seasons, protecting the area contemporary,” mentioned Liu. “Buildings, however, shall be there for a very long time, so it does not have to be loud or within the foreground.”
On the again is a mezzanine degree accessed by way of a doglegged staircase that is suspended from the metal construction.
The slender profile of the treads and risers paired with all-glass balustrades lends the staircase an virtually weightless look.
SO-IL makes use of pink concrete to offer Brooklyn house block “civic presence”
“Our design additionally targeted on the particular properties and technical elements of every materials we used, with glass and aluminium as the principle supplies, stretching what they every can do, not simply visually but additionally structurally,” Liu mentioned. “I feel that is additionally how Issey Miyake approaches their clothes.”
Under, the ground rises two steps to accommodate an current degree change and plumbing wants, and extends again to a extra intimate space for displaying equipment.
A number of titanium parts from Issey Miyake’s earlier Gehry-designed retailer had been repurposed within the new flagship, together with a big folded plate put in above the minimalist aluminium service counter.
“Initially, we explored some ways to undertake it into new parts for the shops, but it surely was very tough to search out fabricators who might work with titanium,” mentioned Liu. “So we ended up preserving the items and displaying them as a stand-alone object prominently within the retailer.”
The area additionally incorporates a gallery the place SO–IL will current an exhibition of its materials explorations and collaborations from September 2026.
Co-founded by Liu and Florian Idenburg in 2008, the studio lately accomplished an array of experimental housing developments round Brooklyn.
These embrace the pink-concrete 144 Vanderbilt in Fort Greene, the perforated-metal 9 Chapel in Downtown Brooklyn, and the green-tiled 450 Warren in Gowanus.
Issey Miyake has collaborated with a wide range of well-known architects and designers on its shops world wide, together with Naoto Fukasawa, Tokujin Yoshioka and Nendo.
The model’s eponymous founder, who died in 2022 aged 84, is taken into account one of many world’s most influential vogue designers – see seven of his most modern initiatives right here.
The pictures is copyright Issey Miyake Inc.
