Vera Wang’s Sleek HQ Redefines Fashion With Minimalist Elegance

While other septuagenarians who have had long, successful careers are packing it in, Vera Wang, 75, is making a fresh start. The fashion designer recently sold her namesake company to brand management firm WHP Global in an arrangement that allows her to continue as chief creative officer while being a shareholder in her label as well as in the larger company. Additionally, she and her team have relocated to a polished New York headquarters from which she can oversee the company she founded 35 years ago. What began as bridal wear has grown into a lifestyle brand with licenses for jewelry, home goods, and more, along with designing annual ready-to-wear lines as well as red-carpet looks for the likes of Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga. “It’s a new chapter,” Wang begins. 

Her previous office was on 26th Street, but changes planned for the building she was renting in prompted her to look elsewhere. It was time to move anyway. Her business had evolved from one devoted to producing clothes to one focused on licensing, so she no longer needed thousands of square feet for functions like shipping and receiving. What she needed, instead, was a flexible workplace where she could shoot content to support licensees with a voracious appetite for Instagram posts. An avowed minimalist, Wang was also ready to graduate from a space that was so stripped down as to be “severe” to “something more glamorous,” she continues. Interestingly, to help bring this evolution to fruition, Wang turned to BMA Architects, a firm more defined by luxury residential than workplace. 

Inside Vera Wang’s Luxe Manhattan HQ

The real estate search led Wang to a building that had its own whiff of glamour: the Mad Men–era Pepsi-Cola Building, an aluminum-and-glass landmark on 59th Street completed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 1960. She took 17,000 square feet on the fifth and seventh floors, the former devoted to workplace, the latter for bridal sales, alterations, and VIP fittings. For Wang, a native New Yorker whose first bridal salon was in the Carlyle hotel, moving back uptown was “a full-circle moment,” she notes.

Concepting the interiors was a journey as well. Creating a new workplace “was as personal as building a home,” Wang recalls, so it was perhaps not surprising that she found herself drawn to photos of modernist houses—and their proportion, mix of materials, and warmth—by BMA founder Blaze Makoid. Even though he’d only designed a handful of commercial offices, she arranged to meet him, and they hit it off. Makoid immediately got Wang’s spare, black-and-white aesthetic. They talked about rooting the project in the four elements of Chinese philosophy: water, wood, steel, and fire (Wang’s parents had immigrated from China in the 1940’s). It also helped that a staff member pulled Makoid aside and gave him a tip: “Vera hates anything round.” 

A Black-And-White Palette For Vera Wang

That’s clear the moment visitors enter reception today and encounter a rectilinear jet black–stone fountain, its water generating a soft hush that makes the street traffic fade away. The design of the feature came easily to Makoid, who has done countless infinity pools for his residential clients, but there were plumbing challenges: “We knew the detailing required to make the water flow over the edge in a way that almost had no movement,” Makoid explains. “But what was complicated was to determine how to get the water there and out.” Behind the fountain is a video wall composed of dozens of screens: On a normal workday, the Vera Wang logo is lit up in a sea of black, but, during an event, the wall can project mood-setting imagery. A luminous desk of backlit Cristallo quartzite and frost-white large-format porcelain floor tile yield a sort of chiaroscuro effect to the entry space.

The center of the workplace is the design and photo studio, where there is a video wall even larger than the one in reception. Composed of more than 125 screens attached to 10 subframes, it can be programmed to function as a digital version of the mood boards designers have made for decades by pinning polaroids to bulletin boards, or project all the items in a collection, or provide a backdrop for a photo shoot. “That space was probably more important to Vera than her actual office,” Makoid says. 

It’s All About Fashion At This Minimalist Office

But her corner office is no slouch either, encompassing the clean-lined profiles and contrasting-color theme found throughout the project. A crisp white sofa by Vincent Van Duysen, a low coffee table in black-tinted glass, and ecru woven-leather chairs by Gordon Guillaumier that Wang had in her Los Angeles home all stand on ebony nylon broadloom. “The furniture kept getting boiled down to the most minimal geometric,” Makoid says with a laugh. Elsewhere, sleek task seating by Burkhard Vogtherr and Antonio Citterio in the studio and open office area are on castors for flexibility; chairs in the waiting area off reception “appear almost like stick drawings of furniture,” Makoid adds. 

They reappear in the café, its intimate size and sculptural backlit bar—“I’ve never built a bar in an office before,” Wang marvels—emitting both residential and hospitality notes. It’s also geared toward flexibility and multifunction: able to host a cocktail party, a one-on-one meeting, or just an employee wanting to take a pause. Instead of doors, the café is fitted with tall pivoting panels in black-stained white oak that can open “the whole reception area into one big show space for an event,” Makoid says.

The panels were too large to fit in the freight elevator and had to be carried up five flights. But the effort has paid off. The office “aesthetically speaks to what Vera values,” Makoid says. Wang concurs: “It reflects the mood we’re trying to iterate with the brand,” she concludes. “I feel an energy we didn’t have before,” sounding ready for years more of creative effort herself.

Vera Wang’s Office Makes A Bold Statement

An Office With A Style That Turns Heads

BMA ARCHITECTS: MATTHEW LABRAKE; CHARLOTTE KALARIS; ELIRA CONDE. SPECTORGROUP: ARCHITECT OF RECORD. ALLERTONFOX CONSTRUCTION: GENERAL CONTRACTOR. 

FROM FRONT MOLTENI&C: SOFA (WANG OFFICE). ACERBIS: TABLE. CAPPELLINI: CHAIRS (RECEPTION, CAFÉ). PEDRALI: TABLE (RECEPTION). DAVIS FURNITURE: CHAIRS (PHOTO STUDIO). HERMAN MILLER: TABLES. VITRA: CHAIRS (EXECUTIVE OFFICE, OPEN OFFICE). ROOM & BOARD: STOOLS (CAFÉ). ANDREU WORLD: TABLES. INNOVANT: WORKSTATIONS (OPEN OFFICE). THROUGHOUT COMMODITILE: FLOOR TILE. PATCRAFT: CARPET. BENJAMIN MOORE & CO.: PAINT.

Atelier Barda Turns to Retrofuturism for This SoHo Boutique

When it comes to winterwear, Canadian brand Kanuk knows how it’s done. Since establishing its first boutique in Montreal in 1970, the coat manufacturer’s business shows no signs of slowing, leading the brand to enlist architecture studio Atelier Barda to create its first international store in Manhattan. “Kanuk was born in a time of statements and visions, so we looked back at that era as a starting point for our thought process, for the desired experience,” says Antonio Di Bacco, firm cofounder and principal. “We wanted to create an idiosyncratic spatial experience that looked toward the future, the unknown.”

To do this, the design team opted for a monochromatic white palette, creating a gallerylike interior that enables the brand’s handcrafted coats to command attention alongside custom pieces. Shifts in lighting and room dimensions further shape the overall experience. The reception hall, with its 14-foot-high ceilings, opens into the product showroom through a 7-foot-high portal, creating a mazelike effect as visitors move from one room to the next. “The goal was to force visitors to question their experience, to destabilize routines, to create a glitch in their normal, everyday lives,” adds Kevin Botchar, director and architect. A monolithic desk made of semi-translucent, seafoam green resin transports visitors through time as they wrap up their shopping experience in style.  

David Davis Encourages the A&D Community to Speak Up in Support of Original Design  

That’s where Be Original Americas, a nonprofit that spotlights the value of original craftsmanship, comes in. The group, cofounded by Beth Dickstein of BDE along with David Rosenkvist, chief commercial and creative officer at Louis Poulsen, works to protect authentic designs and actively stop the spread of knock-offs.

“Being involved with Be Original Americas is really an opportunity to take a stand and say to my staff and clients: Rottet Studio supports original design and we will not participate in that process of deceiving people,” says Davis, noting the issue hits especially close to home given the firm’s line of custom furnishings. Even before joining the Be Original Americas board, Davis made a point to talk with staff on a project level about ways to resist pressures from owners who want to incorporate knock-offs. His approach? When met with resistance, offer clients two options: “Let’s do something completely original or let’s use the originally specified product.” Be Original Americas enables Davis to amplify that message.

“Once I got involved in Be Original Americas, it gave me an opportunity to make supporting original design an official position of the company,” he says, adding that he immediately added the group’s insignia to the Rottet Studio website as well as his email signature. He also sent a message to the firm’s global team announcing his status as a board member of Be Original Americas to make his commitment clear and, importantly, public. “Everyone understands this is a cause that we’re behind and support,” he adds.

More broadly, Be Original Americas also is pushing forward a much-needed dialogue on the future of authentic design. As a board member, Davis shares that he often learns about problems he did not know existed from colleagues, which helps him understand how to better craft solutions. And those solutions must reach every aspect of the A&D community, he affirms, from design media, which he urges to take a stand against publishing projects that showcase knock-off designs, to building owners and clients. Put simply, it all comes down to spreading the word. “Every designer, manufacturer or consumer that even hesitates before specifying a knock-off as a result of something Be Original Americas brought to their attention is a success,” he adds. In other words, every conversation around authentic design counts.

10 Questions With… Lula Galeano

Within a short span of time—including an unprecedented pandemic, Galeano has built a large portfolio of retail and domestic spaces, which all share her dedication to mold her aesthetic for each client’s narrative and needs. “I am quite versatile and eager to read what the project wants in a space,” she says. Her recent project for the popular hand bag brand Susan Alexandra is perhaps the biggest testimony of this malleable approach. For the inaugural boutique of her brand with a cult following, Alexandra tapped Galeano to build a whimsical universe of tiles and glass bricks inside a narrow Lower East Side storefront. True to the bags’ uncompromising bright fruity colors and repetitious patterns, the interior explodes with hues, form, and a fountain. 

Here, Galeano shares insights about finding her path in New York and bending her vision for each project while remaining committed to her design philosophy.

Interior Design: Could you talk about your journey from Argentina to operating your own interior design firm in New York before turning 35?

Lula Galeano: I studied architecture in Buenos Aires and continued working in different firms during school. In 2015, I moved to New York and worked for a firm for a year and half. After quitting my office job, I began freelancing and also put myself out there to meet new people. Around the same time, I connected with Audemars Piguet and designed their boutiques and offices in New York and Miami. 

ID: Your clientele seems to have grown organically. Do you believe in the impact of building a tight network of clients and collaborators in the design world? 

LG: Absolutely—that’s why we live in New York! Since my first project, my portfolio has largely depended on word-of-mouth or chance encounters with the right people. For example, Alexandra and I met on the beach in Rockaway this past summer. She was reading a book about tiles because she was fascinated by the idea of covering her first boutique with them. When I approached her about the book, she told me about the project and her search for a designer. I had never heard of the Susan Alexandra brand before, but we started chatting about my earrings, and here we are. I’ve always been a social person and constantly being in dialogue with people is one of the best part of a design practice.   

ID: How do you see the change in retail design after the pandemic has shifted our in-store interaction?

LG: Partitions have been removed! We are now trying to build open spaces where air can circulate. The most important take in my opinion is the fact that a store cannot just be a store anymore. Retailers need to offer more than shopping since that aspect is so easy online. There needs to be unique elements that attract the customer into the space and render the experience remarkable.  

ID: How was your time with architecture before switching to design? Did you have a similar search for a social aspect in the practice?

LG: Growing up, I was interested in fashion, film and music—anything that had to do with sets and creating environments. I figured if I studied architecture, I could master all of these fields at once because I would both have the technical training and the aesthetic eye. I thought architecture would make anything possible as an overarching practice. During school, I worked on set design for filmmaker friends and slowly branched out to interior design. 

ID: What were your earlier memories of design and aesthetic?

LG: I grew up in Patagonia, in a small desert town. As a child and a teenager, I was obsessed with fashion and weird objects. The issues of French Vogue which my grandmother used to bring me once a month were my sources of inspiration. Growing up in the middle of nowhere, I learned how to make my own toys, most of which came from nature, such as rocks, different stones, and fabrics. The flat, deserted landscape has tied me to nature which still informs my sense for materials and texture. The stillness of the horizon and seeing nothing—which is quite different than the cityscape—prompts a different type of imagination.

ID: What are your favorite materials to tell stories?

LG: Always depends on the project and the clients’ mission. For Susan Alexandra, we knew tiles and glass blocks were crucial to reflect the brand’s signature grid patterns on the handbags. In contrast, Dagne Dover’s flagship store in Soho carries a muted color palette in reference to the  brand’s prominent visual cues. A large scaffolding, which we built out of recycled yogurt cups from a British company called Smile Plastics, functions as the shelving structure. The floor is made out of rubber which is typically used at gyms. For Audemars Piguet, I turned to oak, soft woven fabrics, and plaster.

ID: Each project looks nothing like the other one. How do you maintain such an accommodating style?

LG: I would never envision a Dagne Dover interior for Susan Alexandra, or vice versa, although both brands sell bags. My priority is to understand the product and imagine what the person who shops it expects from the experience. I am a fan of one-offs, which means I don’t like working with a strict heritage. When I work with long-established clients, I incorporate their existing elements with my vision and tweak both to meet in the middle.

ID: Is there a signature accent that we can expect in any Studio Galeón project?

LG: The element of surprise, which sometimes means I hide things here and there around the space. Besides the practicality of working with condensed New York interiors, this also prompts a sense of discovery and offers storage. I personally do not prefer seeing every design element from the beginning. I compare the experience to meandering a labyrinth with little surprises. 

ID: Door handles seem to be a signature element of yours as well.

LG: Whether a commercial space or home, handles are the essence of an interior. I would never just put a handle without a story attached to what awaits inside. The material and the form must start narrating the story. For Susan Alexandra, I chose a peeled banana covered in beads as a handle. The brand is known for using different kinds of fruits on the hand bags, and among the fruits, banana has the perfect grab and form. We used other fruits, such as a strawberry and a watermelon, for sconces.  

ID: Do you source materials and talent from Argentina and South America in general?

LG: I do as much as the lead time and the budget allow. Argentina, Mexico and the rest of the region have an amazing talent pool and history of craft in stone, glass, fiber, and silver. I commission rugs and marble from Argentina as much as possible, for example. I don’t have an industrial design line at the moment, but when I design objects or furniture for a project, I try to collaborate with makers from South America or remain as local as possible.