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Starck Surrealism for Gaultier

New store on Madison Avenue is 'surrealist confection'

Published

22 years ago

February 15, 2002

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Paris-based fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier has opened his first New York store, a two-story space on Madison Avenue between 65th and 66th streets.

Philippe Starck designed the space in what The New York Times described as “a surrealist confection, with buttoned upholstered walls, polished plaster display units inspired by Moroccan steam baths and etched mirrors suggestive of the Baccarat furniture commissioned by Indian maharajahs.”

“We are not here to sell clothes so much as to sell pleasure,” Starck said at Thursday's store opening. “The first rule of design is to bring happiness.”

Gaultier, who sold 35 percent of his company to Hermes International (Paris) in 1997, said he plans 15 other shops in the next five years.

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