Proenza Schouler

Profile

Fashion darlings Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough cheekily opened their first Proenza Schouler boutique on Friday the 13 of July, 2012, some 10 years after graduating from Parsons and selling their entire senior thesis to Barneys New York. Despite the brand’s downtown swagger, the duo chose to open their first flagship on plush Madison Avenue, a visual shock against neighboring bejeweled boutiques. Perforated steel doors open into an indoor secret garden, where the brand’s signature buckled cross body bags and clutches sit on steel shelves and exposed wooden beams line the walls and ceiling. Concrete stairs lead up to the second floor, where stone replaces wood as the backdrop and the seasonal ready-to-wear collection is divided by color and occasion (casual on one side, business on the other). Meanwhile, the creative window installations have included the classic PS1 bag of Alexa Chung fame encased in a block of ice, while more permanent decorations include five-foot-tall cactus plants, and the designers pop up on a video screen to bow goodbye as you exit. — Jessica Chou