You’ll Never Guess What’s At The End Of This Stairway

If the words “Haloscope”, “Lash Slick” and “Cloud Paint” need no explanation and are practically a religion to you, then news of the opening of Glossier’s flagship store today is going to be like going to church. If Thomas Barger, Max Lamb and Katie Stout are more of your guiding light, the opening of Glossier’s flagship store today is going to pique your interest, too. That’s because inventive, artistic design has partnered with the cult-status beauty brand to create the feminine flagship that is entirely Glossier, right at their founding office and penthouse location—123 Lafayette Street in New York.

Walking into the Soho location, you’ll immediately see that everything from furniture and product display to materials and floral arrangements are a practice in thoughtfulness, thanks to designers Gachot Studios (and floral maven Brrch Floral). It’s as if the Glossier products came to life, and morphed into the furniture, materials, and wall colors—a true celebration of the touch and feel of the brand IRL. Burgundy and red quartz pebble floors, gently curved walls on the stairways, soft pink plaster wall surfaces, gray polished concrete floors, red custom-upholstered built-ins—the pallet of the 5,500 square feet space seems to be entirely inspired by Glossier products and packaging, which it kind of was, actually.

Interior designer Christine Gachot says the classic Glossier palette—shades like pale pink, pops of bold red, and off-white—was part of the inspiration for the design, of course, but they were also inspired by the frequent visitors and interaction with the display products. This specifically sparked the creation of “The Wet Bar”, a dedicated room of sinks where guests can apply and test products. This modern ‘playroom’ is housed in a large mirrored cube, a subtle nod to the iconic Glossier packaging, says Gachot. The unexpected juxtaposition between highly textured surfaces and soft curved lines was also a vital design inspiration for Gachot, like the first-floor entryway, a custom-colored quartz carpet paired with the soft and sublime light pink walls.

Meant to be more than just a place to pick up your Boy Brow, the flagship has “immersive community spaces” where customers can interact with one another (on stylish built-in curved furniture), which makes sense because in the two years the showroom has been open, they’ve welcomed over a half a million visitors and has become a destination for beauty fans. “From its roots in the beauty blog, Into the Gloss, the Glossier brand has always been about community,” says Miriam Peterson of P.R.O, the project’s architect. “The space was conceived of as a place to emphasize that sense of community in real life, and to bring people together to have a collective and interactive experience.”

But the clever design doesn’t stop when it comes to the product displays. The corrugated pedestals were very intention for merchandiser Bridget Miller Cinquegrano, who was inspired by the packaging of the products when creating the shop-able and intuitive product installations. So much so, that the artful edge-to-edge, signature wave design fixture in the showroom was “derived from the original Generation G lipstick packaging,” says Miller Cinquegrano.

Come and check out the space, and expect to feel ‘wowed’ says Gachot. “Transformative, interactive, and honest are the words that defined the design direction, but we found a way to be a little naughty and push the envelope,” she says.

Fresh, artful design inspo while repurchasing some Cloud Paint? It was love at first sight, Glossier.