openings

Maison Kitsuné Opened a Beautiful New Soho Store

The new Maison Kitsuné store at 248 Lafayette St. Photo: Courtesy of Maison Kitsuné

Maison Kitsuné, the Paris-meets-Tokyo fashion and music label with a Daft Punk connection, opened a new flagship store in Soho on Thursday night — debuting an exclusive capsule collection with the playful slogan New Yorkais along with the French brand’s signature mix of colorful prints.

The 1,400-square-foot boutique was imagined by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, who recently designed the Louvre Museum’s Café Mollien. His crisp, minimalist style at Maison Kitsuné Lafayette features white walls, marble accents, and floor-to-ceiling metallic-gold tubing that twists around the store like vines.

Maison Kitsuné was co-founded in 2002 by Gildas Loaëc, a former manager of the French electro-music duo Daft Punk, and architect Masaya Kuroki. The name and aesthetic come from the word kitsuné, Japanese for fox, which represents versatility. Last night’s opening marked their first independent business venture in the U.S.; previously, in a partnership with Want Les Essentiels, they had outposts in the NoMad hotel and on the Lower East Side, since closed.

“We are very excited to be operating in American territory ourselves, and introduce the ‘little world’ we’ve been building, that lifestyle and art de vivre, and making it global,” Loaëc told Business of Fashion. The Soho store will sell New Yorkais sweatshirts, T-shirts, and tote bags made in New York City, and host a series of after-hours cocktail soirées.

Photo: Courtesy of Maison Kitsuné
Maison Kitsuné Opened a Beautiful New Soho Store