The Parisian shoe designer takes Manhattan with his first store in the U.S.
With the likes of Christian Louboutin and Martin Margiela as neighbours, it’s no surprise that Paris shoe designer Pierre Hardy chose to open his first U.S. store in New York’s vibrant West Village.
Conceived by Manhattan’s MR Architecture+Decor (responsible for the retail spaces of such designers as Christian Dior), the 130-square-metre boutique was once a carriage house; it’s revamp preserved the original brick and stucco façade.
But the interior is a deliberate nod to modernism. Partitions made of double panels of smoked-glass mirror reflect the contradictions that Hardy’s designs evoke: sleek versus rough, sharp versus soft, austere versus luxurious. The patio space at the shop front that invites in passerbys contrasts pre-cast concrete planks against moulded wood. Further inside, one area displays shoe collections on polished concrete cubes, while steel I-beams dissect the room. At the back of house, a sitting area enclosed by intersecting smoked glass screens is finished with custom leather flooring.
To celebrate the opening of the shop, Hardy paid homage to the Big Apple by designing a sculptural sandal to mirror Manhattan’s buildings and skyscrapers. The shoe is composed of leather strips in a patchwork design, a rectangular plate atop a gold-mirrored platform heel, and is available exclusively at his New York and Paris shops.
Pierre Hardy is located at 30 Jane St. in New York City.
