New Boutique: Maison 24 in New York City (PHOTOS)
The Shop:Maison 24, 470 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 212-355-2414, maison24.
At designers Allison Julius and Louis Marra's second Maison 24 home store--their first is in Bridgehampton, New York--it's all about the glitz and glam and the heydays of Studio 54. We've been hawking for cool finds on their web site for a while, so it was extremely exciting to see it all set up and mixed together. As soon as you step into the newly opened store you're instantly taken by the neon lights and array of fab upholstered pieces, graffitied furniture, and quirky accessories. We love the wild mish-mash of styles and colors, and we wanted to know more. Scroll down to see our chat with Allison and Louis.
1. What was the inspiration for this store?
We've been feeling a very New York '70s, '80s vibe, which became a major inspiration for our New York shop. Customers can find everything from a black-patent-leather bed to fabulous framed photographs shot by Anton Perich at Studio 54 to Keith Haring wall decals.
2. Are there any highlight pieces that are specific to this store?
We are the first retailer in the US to carry the British designer Jimmie Martin's amazing hand-painted furniture. Each piece is one-of-a-kind but what's great is they're functional too.
We have a bar cabinet emblazoned with a Union Jack, a pair of chairs printed with an image of a sausage dog, an ornate silver-leaf armchair that has a tattoo motif, and end tables with the word "Imperfection" marked across them in graffiti style. But our personal favorite is a Studio 54-themed chair that we commissioned to have designed in black & gold. We also have a series of pay phone photographs by Dirk Westphal that he produced exclusively for our New York store in a limited-edition of seven each, and a vintage pay phone booth that was tagged by the graffiti artist Sharp.
3. What's been most popular with visitors at the store?
Robert Indiana's LOVE paperweight has been a best-seller in our Bridgehampton store since we opened, and it became an instant hit in our New York store also!
4. What keeps visitors coming back?
The pair of sausage dog chairs, which is in our window. No less than 100 customers have told us they passed by our window in the evening and had to come back to see the chairs during the day, and at least a few hundred people have stopped to take a picture of them.
5. Do you have a favorite item in this store?
We have a mild obsession with anything that lights up so our current favorites are a neon chair sculpture and a battery-operated gummi-bear light.
6. What do you like most about this shop?
The location. We like to find areas where we have a point of difference from neighboring stores and we think our edgy, modern mix is a stand out in midtown. A few of our customers have said they haven't seen a store this cool since Fiorucci was around the corner and we can't think of a better compliment!
7. Fun fact:
We are brother and sister. Most people don't know that and when they find out they're amazed we can work together happily.
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