Givenchy opens NYC store

Givenchy will be showing their spring collection in New York on September 11, but, before they take their bow at NYFW, their new store is making its debut on Madison Avenue. Their new boutique is located on 747 Madison Avenue, just several blocks away from where their old store was before they shuttered it in 2006. The new store is an intimate yet spacious 4,300-square-feet with the women's collection housed on the first floor, and the men's collection housed on the mezzanine level.

The women's level is artistically dominated with white and black lacquer blocks really playing with themes of lines and geometry that may seem subtle, but are certainly there to get your attention. The store was going for an art gallery style concept where everything else disappears to make the art stand out, in this case the art is Givenchy's edgy and chic product. To create the height of the ceilings in the store part of the ceiling was actually removed because Upper East Side apartment buildings usually aren't known for very high ceilings.

Givenchy returns to Madison Avenue

Large campaign photos hang from the ceiling, and handbags and shoes are arranged along the black and white blocks due to the lack of real shelving in the space. The women's floor is merchandised with three customers in mind: a section of black and white dresses for the minimalist neutral loving customer; an evening-wear section for the socialite and high society style woman; and a runway style section for those who will stop at nothing to get that ready-to-wear look at the cost of 29,500 dollars for a beaded military jacket.

For their men's section on the mezzanine level, Givenchy took a different approach than they did from women's. Whereas the Givenchy customer on Madison Avenue is more of typical uptown socialite girl, the men's customer is the type of customer that would be seen both uptown and downtown, so they gave a more streetwear downtown vibe to the men's level. The upper level has pale green tiles reminiscent of the NYC subway and the whole level as an overall edgier feel to it.

Under the direction of their designer Ricardo Tisci, Givenchy has emerged to be one of the biggest luxury labels in the fashion industry. With his growing list of celebrity clientele like Julianne Moore and Kim Kardashian, Tisci has taken the brand to household name status. Givenchy's return to Madison Avenue is the ultimate symbol that they are a force in the fashion industry to be reckoned with.

Photo:WWD