GOLD RUSH
I’d always loved the original Commes des Garcons (CdG) boutique in Chelsea, designed by Future Systems, from 1998. It was tucked on a quiet block of far west 22nd Street, and identified only by a little battered steel sign from the previous tenant, that read, alluringly “Heavenly Body Works." One entered through a curved aluminum tube with a giant glass door inside. That door had a huge kidney-shaped hole in the middle that one reached through to open it. A sloped aluminum ramp carried one down to the sales floor, where the artsy, pricey dresses and suits were displayed in an array of shining white cabinets that tilted this way and that, like icebergs. The architecture had a novel quality; each time I visited I felt I was discovering it once again. So when CdG closed for a remodel last year it felt like a big mistake.
CdG kept a good portion of the old store intact. The entrance sign, tunnel, door and ramp are still there, and still delightful. The new interior is similar to the original, with chunky freestanding cabinets. But they’re gold. It’s a finish that’s less garish, and less opulent, than it sounds: an aluminum veneer with a dull, mottled surface, like the inside of a tomato can. The new cases have the same eccentric, canted geometries as the old ones, but they’ve been constructed more crudely (which is, most likely, unintentional). The edges of the gold panels don’t meet neatly, exposing strips of bare construction board behind. The fluorescent lights inside them are plainly visible, and there are stray pencil marks where installers noted joints and measurements. The store’s original bare concrete floor remains, but is scarred at those points where the old cabinets had been screwed down, which have been roughly patched with epoxy and painted.
The informal spirit of the remodel breathes new life into the store. The old white cabinets had a bright, super-modern sheen. The new gold ones are gentler, earthier, and kookier. Their raw construction and dull glow warm the room. The clothing being peddled here has been conceived with architectural precision and pretension, but the store has not.