Directory

Retail Directory 2009 

Mauboussin

New York

‘I’ve always been interested in kaleidoscopes,’ David Rockwell says of his design for jeweller Mauboussin’s new 6000-sq-ft Madison Avenue flagship. When night falls, this tiny townhouse’s screened facade is lit up with the shifting colours of a projected kaleidoscope. The entrance opens with a cracked glass wall that rises through all three retail floors. Beginning with a stitched copper thread line on the ground floor, Rockwell’s design subtly references the building’s original moulding with different articulations on each floor. Another centerpiece is the repetition of ‘inner sanctums’, achieved through love seats that produce quiet moments of intimacy and privacy in which to try on Mauboussin’s sparkling lovelies. The jewels themselves are kept in sparely designed glowing cabinets that almost seem to float on ultra-thin metal legs. The dark masculine vibe on the first floor gives way to a more obvious femininity on the second floor where the focus is on diamonds set against graphite walls. Almost effortlessly, the mood segues to the third floor whose white wingbacks, ostrich feathers and lace all conspire to create a set that came straight out of, in Rockwell’s words, ‘a Fellini movie’. After the dramatics of the lower floors, the fourth floor is a gentle respite by way of a patisserie framed by exposed-brickwork and surrealistic art.

714 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10065
1 212 752 4300

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