As She Likes It

f ivest ory / New York. Aged 26, Claire Distenfeld is opening an exclusive boutique on the Upper East Side – and its approach is impressively unconventional.

Text: Petrina Engelke. Photos: Fivestory

She likes it, or she doesn't like it - and that's that! Using this as her criteria is exactly how Claire Distenfeld makes decisions on what she wants to have in her exclusive Fivestory store. It could be a chunky knit skirt by Alexander McQueen, a delicate Gracelette necklace, a leather jacket by BLK DNM or a Steiff teddy bear. Claire Distenfeld is only 26 and she has internalised the "Think Big" motto. After leaving university, she initially worked in the gallery scene, but soon discovered that retail is her true calling. With the financial support of her father, a former luxury goods importer, and using Parisian Colette as her inspiration, she opened a department store. A store that doesn't exactly have a huge selection but is impressively exclusive. Fivestory displays the most beautiful pieces from a collection of around 150 labels in a five-storey townhouse. Not, however, as the name suggests on all of the floors but only on the lower two, connected by a marble staircase.

Journey of Discovery in the Twisting Townhouse

It's easy to imagine the grand entrance fine young ladies might have made here when an admirer appeared to take them out to a night at the opera (the houses was built in 1881). Entering the building as a house guest, you are met by a huge floral display resting on a glass table – pearlembroidered trousers and a stylish handbag lie underneath. After all, it is clientèle that Claire Distenfeld welcomes here, not guests for a dinner party. She wants to send them on a journey of discovery, she says. Interior designer Ryan Korban has arranged everything with this in mind: A luxury backgammon set rests on a corner sofa, an antique wall fountain babbles happily in an alcove and stairs leading up and down through Fivestory take you through small rooms, passed display cabinets, clothes rails and glass tables. It's as though you are rummaging through a friend's walk-in wardrobe, not just so you can admire her dress taste, but so that you can admire her stylish husband and smartly-dressed children, too. Not to mention the elegant evenings with art plates and fine candles.

What Fivestory Has that Sets them Apart from the Neighbouring Flagship Stores

Others start off with a small shop in an area they can afford. Fivestory has a fine address on New York's Upper East Side and the competition have some pretty big names: Directly opposite is Cartier, around the corner is Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Proenza Schuler and Jil Sander. But Claire Distenfeld isn't the least bit intimidated by them. From a very young age, the native New Yorker has travelled around the globe, creating a kaleidoscope out of all the museum visits, foreign streets and beautiful shops – and she does, what she likes. Using this as her mantra, she sets herself free from the constraints of a flagship store. While the neighbourhood is redecorating their display windows in the aftermath of New York's fashion week, Distenfeld jets off to Paris. To look to see what she likes – and what she doesn't.

Fivestory

18 East 69th Street, 10065 New York/USA, T 001.212.2881338, www.fivestoryny.com. Opening: April 2012. Owner: Claire Distenfeld. Staff: 14 Retail space: 300 sqm. Labels women: Acne, Balmain, BLK DNM, House of Holland, Hussein Chalayan, MCQ, Peter Pilotto, Thakoon, Timo Weiland, Versus and much more besides. Labels men: Adam Kimmel, Comme des Garcons, Maison Kitsune, Neighbourhood, Wings + Horns and much more besides. Shoes: Aperlai, Nike, Nina Ricci, Sergio Rossi and much more besides. Jewellery & Accessories: Aurelie Biedermann, Begg, Gracelette, Oliver Peoples, Shourouk, Tony Hawks and much more besides

A clear thing: The focus is on the premium range.