Last week, my friend Jennifer Parry visited NYC and she asked me to take her to Norfolk Street in the Lower East Side, to this amazing store she had heard about ....... I drove around for one hour, made a number of phone calls for directions, and finally found this eclectic and innovative "design project," that is Maryam Nassir Zadeh, a store that is so special .... it was worth every minute of the hour to find!!!
Owned by Maryam Zadeh, and her fiance Udsay Kak, this well curated, modern space is both open and intimate. The front has large glass windows, interior walls are white painted brick, the floor is grey concrete, and original wooden floor-to-ceiling beams support the ceiling. The store is non-traditionally fixtured with a variety of handmade wooden tables and benchs, flea markets finds, and organic elements found by the owners. The clothing, shoes, jewelry, and accessories featured in the store are by innovative, independent designers, with a touch of vintage ...... reflecting the same "old and new" aesthetic as the interior.
For "the accessorator", the most important element is the composition of the store and the artist's works that have been selected by Maryam and Udsay. The stunning oversized necklace wall-hanging, in neutral yarns and ropes of ivory, grey and peach tones with silver, is by a collective known as Confetti Systems. There are divine handmade bows and arrows by Fredricks & Mae, that would be wonderful color accents for any room. Sitting next to the arrows is a black felt sculpture by artist A'Detache. Hanging over the back counter is a wonderful Calder-like mobile, that includes a stack of paper plates, by artist and jewelry designer Samma. In addition, there are several black rubber sculptures on the floor that are made from bicycle tires by Italian artist Paolo Bertocchi. Not to be missed in the back corner are several long beaded pieces hanging from the ceiling by jewelry designer Lauren Manoogian. This eclectic, fresh mix of art is a wonderful accent to the apparel and is all for sale.
"We wanted to express our aesthetic in a very personal way. It's not about the labels but more about the mix of unusual things coming together." Maryam Zadeh
There is no question that Maryam and Udsay have achieved their goal ..... the spirit and energy that surrounds this store is what real "merchandising" is about. If we want to give our customers a reason to shop we should take a look at the environment that has been created here, as well as the wonderful off-beat mix of innovative and interesting merchandise!!!!
AND YOU CAN CALL ME FOR GOOD DIRECTIONS!!!!!!
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