Italian menswear brand ISAIA has launched their first ever boutique in San Francisco at the historic Frank Lloyd Wright building located at 140 Maiden Lane. Once home to the V.C. Morris Gift Shop, the new ISAIA boutique offers an expansive 7,900 square-feet of space, along with approximately 4,000 square feet intended for retail sales.
The new ISAIA location retains all of the building’s original materials designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, leaving everything intact and unmodified; from its original wall plaster, millwork, trim, flooring railings, bubbled ceilings, suspended planter, glass store front planter on entry, and of course the brick and stone façade.
Spanning back to it’s official launch in 1957, ISAIA has been widely acknowledged as one of the top luxury lifestyle brands in providing the sophisticated and stylish gentleman with the highest quality in sartorial tailoring. “This year marks our 60th year as a brand. It is personally very important to me that we are always pushing to do new things, while paying homage to our heritage. Opening a shop in the landmarked Frank Lloyd Wright building, accomplishes just that”, according to Isaia.
The interior of the new ISAIA boutique on Maiden Lane features furniture from the gallery Esprit Nouveau, located in Naples, Via Calabritto 20, which were personally selected by Interior Designer, Alberta Saladino. ISAIA San Francisco’s newly introduced furniture includes unique pieces such as the ones listed below.
• Jelly Pea sofa: great semicircular sofa upholstered in cotton velvet fabric, designed by architect and designer India Mahdavi.
• Vintage armchairs: Italy 1955, designed by Paolo Buffa, upholstered by hand in cotton velvet fabric by a Neapolitan artisan.
• Swinging bar: Italy, late 1940’s, birch wood and gold leaf decorations, attributed to Osvaldo Borsani.
• Pair of round rugs: handmade products based on interior designer Alberta Saladino and architect Martino Ferrari drawings, who have been inspired by a design from the ‘50s, readapted to respect the round shapes of the spaces.
• Brass floor lamp, Italy 1970.
• Pair of floor lamps: brass structure with Murano glass leaves, Barovier e Toso, 1960 ca.
• Wet Bar with stools: late ’50s, mahogany wood with engraving and decorations.
• Fragments Modern sculpture by Michele Iodice.
The original fixtures have been preserved and integrated with other new elements, giving the boutique a ‘modern meets classic‘ sort of approach. ISAIA has modified the V.C. Morris Gift Shop’s space, where it was needed, to thoroughly correspond and fit with the concept ISAIA is revered for. The colors and materials used were very imperative to reflect this approach. Considering ISAIA’s long history with their Mediterranean Red color and unique artifacts indigenous to the Bay of Naples, it was essential for them to choose the most appropriate vintage pieces that neither overwhelmed or disappointed the design.
“The design team worked closely with the Preservation committee at the San Francisco Planning Department to develop solutions that would meet the new requirements for a retail boutique, while satisfying the elements of a historical building,” said James Shay, President of ISAIA North America.
ISAIA’s new San Francisco location features vintage fixtures like the iconic Campari bar, red lacquered piano, and tranquil seating area, which are a part of all of ISAIAs shop designs. The boutique will be offering a blend of sportswear, tailored clothing, and Made to Measure, as well as a lineup of exclusive product options available for the sartorial gentleman.
ISAIA San Francisco is rather extensive, boasting a Frank Lloyd Wright Library within the boutique for those who want to look through books on the famed architects designs and other historical information. Additionally, the library was curated by the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy, explicitly for ISAIA.
“Experience is a big part of what we offer to our customers. We want each of our stores to have a setting where our guests can relax and escape, while at the same time, enjoying anticipatory service for whatever their needs are”, asserts Isaia.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Morris Gift Shop for Vere C. and Lillian Morris in 1948. His work on the building was distinctively renowned for two reasons; the exterior brick façade that cloaks a considerable amount of the interior and the applicability of the spiral ramp as the main focal point of that interior.
Wright was working on the early stages of design for the Guggenheim Museum in New York City when at the time he designed the V.C. Morris Gift Shop. These two projects both shared a similar layout in which they exhibited spaces perfect for the display of objects of high quality. For instance, the Guggenheim design featured non-objective art while the Morris Gift Shop had put china, silver and glassware on display. This demonstrates how Wright’s choice of using the ramp as the prime focus of the Gift shop was quite a brilliant move on his part. This allowed those who ascended the ramp to observe objects on display from a multitude of vantage points in a two-story space brimming with natural lighting.
The store officially opened on September 22nd, 2017, and ISAIA San Francisco is currently only accessible by a select group of VIP’s and influencers, which is “by appointment only”.
For more information visit: www.Isaia.it
