Jean Nouvel’s 40 Mercer building, the architect’s only residential project in New York, sets the stage for the new flagship of Áwet New York. Founded by Áwet Woldegebriel, the company is a luxury fashion brand inspired by Asmara, Eritrea, where Woldegebriel has roots. The city’s style—both its unique mix of art deco and Italian architecture and sharp suits and tailoring—inform the label’s precise silhouettes. For the Áwet’s flagship, Woldegebriel tapped design and furniture studio Max ID NY and experiential designer My Nguyen to conceive of an experimental store. Featuring bespoke furnishings and lighting by Max ID, the retail space is imagined as an architectural and cultural salon.

The interior takes advantage of the building’s tall ceilings and steel and glass facade, which illuminates the store’s offerings. The store’s approach to displaying goods is an extension of the brand’s experimental approach: Max ID’s seesaw-like bookshelf acts as a quirky companion to a mannequin. Racks of clothing fall alongside sculptural seating from the studio’s Soft Collection. It includes a curving chair opposite a rectilinear seat, whose blue frames complement the window frames.

The furnishings make up a small lounge, curated with art and objects that continue the narrative of the brand. For instance, the walls are finished with archival photography from Asmara, Eritrea and curated by Nguyen.

Deeper into the store the colors darken. Here vignettes are backdropped by a rust red, a color that ties back to Eritrea. The color makes up the fitting rooms, where more sculptural furniture dons the spare space like a fashionable showroom.