On April 19th, Dries Van Noten opened its first standalone store in New York, featuring artwork by artists including British artist Tracey Emin and Italian designer Gaetano Pesce. Located on Mercer Street in SoHo, the space spans 328 square meters across two floors. “Inspired by the energy of Manhattan,” according to a press release, the space is meant to bring together fashion, design, and art. This new location continues the brand’s tradition of incorporating art into its physical spaces—as seen in its London location, which features pieces by David Hockney and Emin.
“The idea is to invite different artists throughout the year,” Van Noten told Artsy. “The art is there because it adds something to the space, it grounds it.”
The SoHo store’s inaugural display features Emin’s The News Is I Love You (2021), an offset lithograph on a paper napkin with a postcard, as well as Belgian painter and assemblage artist André Bogaert’s Monumental “Golden Flower” Assemblage (1963), made from gold spray-painted wood. On temporary display is Italian artist Simone Crestani’s Simone Crestani x Ioannis Michalou – SOS Save Our Sky (2024), a sculpture made from borosilicate glass and silica aerogel.
Design works displayed in the store include one of Pecse’s famed resin armchairs from the 2000s. Most of the furniture, however, was created by Belgian designer Ben Storms. These works range from a stainless steel room divider to a marble coffee table.
“I see the inclusion of my work in the Dries Van Noten narrative in New York as a recognition of dedication and craftsmanship,” Storm told Artsy. “My creations are defined by time, millennia of geological forces and transformations. They embrace a stillness, even a deceleration, as an ode to the processes that precede the result.…Both Dries Van Noten and I call for attention to detail; nothing reveals itself fully at first glance.”
The opening of the New York outpost follows the 2020 opening of Van Noten’s Los Angeles location, its first in the United States. The designer’s sixth location will open in Milan this fall.
