OILILY TO OPEN UNITED STATES FLAGSHIP CONCEPT STORE IN DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN SEPTEMBER 2006

(New York, NY, August 25, 2006) OILILY, the luxury Dutch fashion label, will open its first United States flagship concept store in New York this September. The new store, located at 465 West Broadway (between Houston and Prince Streets), will offer the label’s seasonal women’s, children’s, and baby collections, as well as a showroom, where future collections will be on view. The new flagship environment markedly raises OILILY’s presence in New York – and in the United States – creating a lifestyle context for its contemporary fashions and a venue to express the brand’s values: art, culture, humanism, casual elegance and luxury, modern design, originality, creativity, and passion.

Established in 1964 by Marieke and Willem Olsthoorn in the Netherlands, the progressive design house was inspired by its birthplace – the land of Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Vermeer, Rem Koolhaas, and Mies Van Der Rohe. Continuing to distinguish itself as a liberated, expressive, art-based, alternative fashion brand, OILILY is known for drawing upon the art and design worlds, and focusing on bold colors, intricate knits, top quality fabrics, and materials, as well as cutting-edge patterns, graphics, lines, and shapes. Eminently functional and wearable yet elegantly eccentric, charmingly idiosyncratic warm and approachable, OILILY manages to marry seemingly disparate design elements, creating its own unique sensibility while also inspiring the wearer to express hers.

In conjunction with design partner UXUS, OILILY SoHo will compliment and highlight OILILY’s artisanal designs, playfully fusing eclectic “found” furniture with both contemporary and classic materials, such as high grade Italian millwork, metal fittings, and high-tech finishings. The architecture and interior design – inspired by the concept of a working artist’s studio – will reflect OILILY’s dedication to high quality craftsmanship and a relaxed, down-to-earth attitude that will appeal to independent-minded women and their children. The store’s design will mirror the brand’s first flagship concept store in Antwerp, with some important differences.

“It’s sophisticated, providing a lifestyle canvas for the collection, but, in keeping with our brand’s design philosophy, a fundamental goal of ours is to allow for each urban flagship environment to adapt to the natural attributes of the neighborhood,” says Paul Lechlinski, President of OILILY USA. “The boutique will adopt a New York, downtown vibe and energy through the original aesthetic philosophy and unique design developed by UXUS for this particular flagship store.”

Located in SoHo’s Cast-Iron Historic District, the six-story, nine-bay building was designed and built in 1889 - 1890 by architect John Odell Whitenach, who contributed several other notable, landmarked buildings to the District. 465 West Broadway features an iron storefront, a brick and stone facade, and elaborate decorative elements, such as neo-Grec foliation, stone lintels, round-arched windows, and a triangular pediment. The new SoHo flagship will seamlessly integrate modern, innovative interior architecture and materials used by UXUS with this historic building and neighborhood. Taking its cues from OILILY’s own designs, the new SoHo flagship will mix the past with the present, aspects of Modern Art, Old Europe – and Old New York. It will, likewise, layer an undercurrent of fairy tale with chic, technological design innovations.

“The SoHo venue will be a natural fit for OILILY, as we reaffirm our roots and heritage as an original, bohemian brand. This boutique will further clarify and define the signature design and lifestyle philosophy of our label,” says Lechlinski. “Here we can create the appropriate environment and setting for the evolution of our collections. It also provides us with the exciting opportunity to build a broader customer base, introducing the full range of our products to a new set of elegant, free-thinking women who have a strong, unique sense of style.”

The 5000-square-foot, loft-like store will augment the New York retail space devoted to OILILY’s women’s and children’s line, located at 820 Madison Avenue. In addition to housing the brand’s entire product assortment each season, OILILY SoHo will offer limited edition collections from the Dutch design team, featuring vintage themes from icons of OILILY’s past collections. It will also take part in introducing the brand’s first limited edition collection for SPRING 2007: “The Artisan Series Open Studio Collaborative Collection.”

The launch of the SoHo flagship store – in tandem with the opening this summer of a flagship store in San Francisco and a new boutique in Atlantic City – marks the beginning of OILILY’s planned expansion into the U.S. market.


OILILY, 465 Broadway, New York, NY 10012
www.oililyusa.com 800-977-7736




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Victoria George
Victoria George Public Relations llc
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