Alexis Bittar Courts Ladies Who Lunch on the Upper East Side

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Alexis Bittar's bold, chunky necklaces and earrings are no stranger to the uptown girls and grande dames of Madison Avenue. Joan Collins stars in the designer's spring campaign, and the Sex and the City ladies will be wearing his jewelry in the upcoming movie. But while Bittar has long maintained a boutique not far from the West Village brownstone that plays Carrie's house in the show, he didn't have any Upper East Side presence until earlier this month, when he opened his third store on Madison between 82nd and 83rd Streets.

The 450-square-foot space is covered in gray raw silk wallpaper hand-painted in cherry blossoms. It's illuminated by light fixtures from the 1930s and decorated with a dramatic taxidermy display in which leopards stalk a bird. Leopards! After all, who needs animal print when you've got the actual animal?

· Alexis Bittar [Official Site]