Lauren Manoogian and Chris Fireoved, purveyors of subtle and sophisticated knitwear that has wide appeal and garners insiders’ esteem, are growing their universe; they’re opening their first store in the “floating world” that exists on the borders of SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown. Located at 407 Broome Street, just down the street from their showroom, the shop is on the ground floor of a century-old building, and the space is long and narrow, a bit like a piece of yarn. It seems that there is more than a strand of kismet in this project. Fireoved explains that he and Manoogian had been looking elsewhere, then on “the day we looked at each other and said, ‘We have to move on here,” they stumbled upon this place while sulking around the neighborhood. “It felt right, right away.”
That sense of rightness pervades the light and calming space with its medley of tonal garments. It really feels like a home for the brand rather than primarily a transactional space, fulfilling Manoogian’s remit. “I’m interested in interiors and spaces,” she explains, “and I think we always were like, ‘We want to have our things in an environment.”