Visual Merchandising and Store Design | VMSD.com

Anne Fontaine’s flagship on Madison Avenue demonstrates just how non-traditional a traditional white shirt can be.

By Lauren Mang

The white shirt is arguably the most classic element of a woman’s wardrobe, a simple staple celebrated by everyone from Gap to Giorgio Armani. But none has embraced it with as much ardor as Anne Fontaine.

The half-French, half-Brazilian design darling first made her fashion mark in 1993 with a fresh take on the traditional white blouse that has since become her signature. Twice a year, Fontaine introduces some 100 double-collared, rouched and/or embroidered designs to her 68 shops worldwide, including flagships in Paris, New York and Tokyo.

The latest is on New York’s Madison Avenue, between 61st and 62nd, a 7500-square-foot, tri-level store with lush materials and moody lighting in a historic building. It’s a bit of a departure from her first shop on Paris’ Rue des Saints-Péres, where the design reflected the simplicity of her first white blouse.

“We’re growing as a brand and offering so much more to our customers,” says Teresa Bravo, the brand’s retail director. “Back then, we really were just white shirts.” More recently, the designer has introduced jackets, knits, accessories, handbags and fragrances. “There’s more to discover with the brand, so there needed to be more to discover with the stores,” Bravo says. “Our new shops are designed to be visually stimulating and interesting for the customer, just like our offerings.”

Hide and Seek

Setting up shop in an old building that previously housed a liquor store for 60 years meant major renovations. Not a problem, according to Bravo. “We don’t do cookie-cutter flagships,” she says. “Being on Madison Avenue in a historic space was part of the allure. We rejuvenated the building, but brought it to the future with a modern, urban twist.”

Shawmut Design and Construction (New York) was in charge of breathing life into the 100-plus-year-old building, including installing a new façade on the first and second floor that required approval from the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and shutting down part of the busy street for a period of time.

“The existing site was a mess,” says Vincent Spataro, senior project manager at Shawmut. “Walls were falling apart, floors were crooked and unstable, pipes and wires were everywhere.”