CITYist

The quiet opening of Yeholee’s new shop on a calm corner of 38th Street marks a major shift in the New York fashion dynamic. Yeholee is the first designer to open a retail shop in the garment district, and by doing so, she has become a visionary forerunner, pushing the idea of local fashion forward to a reality. At the opening celebration on October 12, Yeholee, ever the gracious hostess, greeted fellow designers and celebrities alike, with a wise smile and open arms. They gathered round the oval table to honor Yeholee and christen the new home of her Made in Manhattan movement. The gallery-like room has white walls and segments of galvanized steel. It is a shop without presumption or distracting decor: this space is clearly about the clothes.

Those clothes—at once elegant and avant-garde—are made of fabrics you could burrow your fingers into. On the two racks that line the walls are winterberry capes with a classified drape and drawn back dresses that evoke a Grecian goddess stepping into the role of a 50s housewife. Her designs are still edgy but relevant, wearable while conceptual. Now that the garment district has a true fashion nexus, Yeholee’s little shop—in the shadow of Lord & Taylor—may just show the world that fashion designed, made, and finally, sold in midtown will not only survive, but thrive.