The shop-in-shop will be the jewelry designer’s first NYC point-of-sale

London-based jewelry designer Pippa Small has been flirting with opening a New York City store for years. In 2014 she debuted a temporary pop-up shop at downtown store LF8—and told me then that the ephemeral store was created, at least in part, to test the waters for a potential permanent Manhattan spot.

Now Small (pictured) has announced that she will open a permanent shop-in-shop inside ABC Carpet & Home on 19th Street and Broadway in the Flatiron District. And the fit could hardly feel more synergistic.

Small is famous for using big, earthy gemstones in gloriously outré bohemian designs—always employing ethically sourced materials. ABC Carpet & Home is a high-end homewares and fashion emporium that champions avant-garde and non-Western design in a sprawling, hangar-like space that’s so whimsically designed, you often feel like you’ve slid down the rabbit hole when you walk inside. Small’s pop-up will open Sept. 7, the first official day of New York Fashion Week.

Pippa Small designs that are part of Prince Charles and Hamid Karzai’s Turquoise Mountain project, which is helping to revive Afghanistan’s traditional crafts, including jewelry making 

The designer says she chose to partner with ABC, instead of debuting a separate space, because “ABC is an iconic institution” in New York. “I love the fact that they use that glorious space for lectures, films exhibitions. It has a strong philanthropic element and an appreciation of non-Western aesthetics that makes it a natural partner. We were thrilled when they asked us. As a new presence in the city, it feels [like] the wisest start.”

The 116-square-foot shop-in-shop, which will be located on the first floor, is “a beautiful, quiet space…with wooden screens cut with Islamic motifs and a delicate pink-and-white color scheme,” Small reveals. “It’s important to create a tranquil, peaceful space where we can chat to clients and show the jewelry in a clear way.”

The  merchandise array at the shop will evolve with its clientele. Small says every city where she has a retail store—currently London, Los Angeles, and now New York—has “a distinctly different feel in terms of how women present themselves. New York is new for us, so that will be interesting to discover.”  

(Photos courtesy of Pippa Small) 

Emili Vesilind

JCK Senior Editor