Now Open: Seize sur Vingt Bows in the Plaza

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Femia, 11/13/08

Feast your eyes on the freshly opened Seize sur Vingt store underneath the Plaza Hotel—designed by the firm 212box and easily the coolest thing we've seen in ages. Seize, which has maintained a Nolita boutique since 1998, carries clothing for both men and women, but it focuses on custom-made menswear. As such, it's appropriate that the store's highlight is an enormous two-way fitting mirror. On the reflecting side, you can watch your clothes being fitted, and on the transparent side, other customers see the fit through the mirror at you. Another highlight: Instead of a stock room, the store has rolling shelves which both customers and shopclerks can move themselves for access to shoes and shirts.

While the store is exciting, the retail space around it is a little strange. It's not big and expansive like a suburban mall, but because the stores are very compartmentalized, it doesn't feel cozy or intimate, either. Elizabeth Street is definitely a more pleasant setting. Then again, we have a feeling that won't deter the Fifth Avenue crowds. For more on Seize and its Plaza neighbors, click here, or go here for news about the retail space's opening party.