Just Browsing: Festive Winter Fashion at Dries Van Noten

On a crisp October morning, I hopped on the Manhattan-bound F train from Brooklyn with the Dries Van Noten boutique as my destination. The Belgian label opened its doors earlier this year on Mercer Street (its first in the city), in a more quiet pocket of SoHo. I’d walked by it a few times this summer whenever I found myself in the neighborhood, but not nearly as often as I’d passed by its flagship boutique on Nationalestraat in Antwerp; housed inside Het Modepaleis (a landmark building from 1881), its imposing structure and glowing window displays crystallized my teenage years growing up in Belgium.

Both spaces posses a jewel box-like quality that’s intimate and inviting. Discovery is rewarded here, as there is much to take in, from the ornate clothes to the eclectic art and eccentric flower arrangements. The boutique’s tall ceilings and narrow hallways create a sense of expansiveness, heightened by the raw beauty of the building’s exposed seams. A kaleidoscopic curation of beauty products sets the tone upon entering, urging you further into its back rooms. It felt at once familiar and uniquely New York.

Julian Klausner’s first fall/winter collection was on display when I visited, with ready-to-wear and runway styles sectioned into print and color stories across the ground floor and mezzanine. Accessories (including their beloved sneakers and bijou clutches) were dotted throughout.

There was a lot I wanted to try on, not least the very many sequin pieces that animated the fall show. Let’s get into it!