agnès b. Finds a Home in Soho

On Friday night, agnès b. held a reception to celebrate its third shop in New York, a “Galerie Boutique” on Howard St. While the opening party may have fallen on April Fool’s Day, there were no jokes about the 3,000-square-foot flagship shop—just plenty of well-deserved revelry. Stocked with men’s and women’s collections, bags, and accessories from the cult French brand, shoppers will also be happy to find the Artist T-shirt collection. Limited-edition designs will be exclusively available at the new concept shop by artists Ryan McGinness, Rostarr, Dan Colen, Ryan McGinley, Harmony Korine, Jose Parla, Bast, Jonas Mekas and others.

The space will also double as a gallery. Since opening her first shop in New York in 1980, founder and designer Agnès Troublé has been a longtime friend and supporter of the New York art world.  The Gallery Wall, a 500-square-foot space, will feature rotation exhibits curated by Agnès. The inaugural exhibition features work from Agnès’ personal collection, including many of the artists she called upon to help with her Artist T-shirts.  

As I looked through the store, a digital print pleated skirt of a sunset caught my eyes. Agnès tapped me on the shoulder and said “That was taken on the way to Cairo.” It turns out she took all the photographs seen in her collection herself. Rostarr, one of the artists featured in the show and in the T-shirt collection, noted, “She really understands artists and knows how to work with them, because she’s an artist herself.”

Rostarr and Agnès were first introduced in 2002, worked together on a show about the Twin Towers falling called Boomerang, and have maintained a strong friendship ever since. “I love it and I have to say it’s just about time. The hole needed to be filled and this is going to do that,” he said of the new space.

Of curating her exhibit tonight, Agnès  said,  “It’s of all my friends from New York from the last seven or eight years. I love their work and I love them.  And its in memory of Dash Snow, who I loved very much, who died two years ago.”  

agnès b. is located at 50 Howard St, New York, NY.