Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster opens first NYC location

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Feb 25, 2016

Korean eyewear brand, Gentle Monster has recently opened the doors to its first-ever New York City location in SoHo.

The 800-square-foot space designed by Rafael de Cárdenas of Architecture at Large features a wooden structure in the main room of the store with maze-like mirror placements to express the brand’s perspective. The centerpiece structure doubles as a display of the brand’s eyewear offering.
 
The minimal store also features a concierge station at the entrance of the store and a service desk in the rear of the store that will custom fit and polish eyewear. Finally, the store houses a rotating gallery space that will be changed every three months. The featured art installation for the store opening is from Moooi and is called Solar Hibernation.

Won Lee founded Gentle Monster four years ago. The brand has expanded much through South Korea with the opening of five stores in Seoul and one in Busan, and it received exposure in the US through collaborations with Hood By Air and Opening Ceremony. 
 
Gentle Monster SoHo is located at 79 Grand Street and is open Monday through Friday from 11am-7pm and on weekends from 12-6pm.