Raffles 1887
Printemps New York: 'Not a department store'
As Raffles’ new Butler Did It Collection of glamorous fashion and home pieces launches at Printemps New York, RAFFLES 1887 takes a closer look at how a store that was founded in Paris 160 years ago is now capturing hearts stateside
TWENTY-two years before the Sarkies brothers opened a small beachside hotel in Singapore and called it ‘Raffles’, Jules and Augustine Jaluzot were setting up a department store on Boulevard Haussman in Paris – a district that was then still under construction. It would be the first department store in west Paris, a gamble on the future that justified their choice of name, full of new life and hope: Au Printemps (‘to spring’). Their promise was to deliver an array of products that were “New, fresh and beautiful, all year round.” The year was 1865.
The late 19th / early 20th centuries were fertile ground for brave entrepreneurs like these, sensing the rise of an adventurous European bourgeoisie seeking new looks and new horizons, who would take their refined wardrobes travelling to America or the exotic east, and compare notes (and frocks) over cocktails. It was all unutterably glamorous – and if you were one of those early visionaries in retail or hospitality who understood and could deliver on the alchemy of innovation, theatre, craftsmanship and service, you were almost certainly ahead of the curve.
Over 100 years later, the way we shop and consume, post-internet, has made the realisation of that alchemy harder to achieve. The closure of Barneys New York in 2020 caused sharp intakes of breath – not to say sobbing – that could be heard across the Atlantic. Where would the New York luxury shopping scene be without its ‘Sex & the City’ glossy black bags? Other departmental legends – Saks, Bloomingdales, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus – all underwent retrenchment. What did this tipping point mean for the future of branded luxury in the greatest shopping city on earth?
Enter, for the first time, Printemps – with the telling slogan: ‘Not a department store’. It opened in March 2025, not in the luxury enclave of Midtown Manhattan but in the financial district at One Wall Street – originally the Irving Trust Company Building, later the Bank of New York Mellon Building. The thinking? Well, it is estimated by Printemps that 150,000 people pass the 50-storey building at the heart of the financial district each day, representing a spending power of $9.4 billion.
This would have been nothing had Printemps not created a destination of enchantment, inspired by its chic French roots, that simply could not be resisted – either by locals or tourists. Stepping off Wall Street into the Red Room – a historic art deco temple of deep red and gold mosaic designed by the celebrated American muralist Hildreth Meière in 1931, now transformed into a magical ‘shoe forest’ – the place draws you magnetically into a two-storey treasure hunt of fashion, gastronomy and fun. “We’ve been reinventing retail for over 100 years,” said Printemps Global CEO Jean-Marc Bellaiche at the opening.
Paris-based architect Laura Gonzalez, known for her freewheeling combinations of motifs, materials, styles and furnishings, set a whimsical, romantic tone when she envisioned the store’s custom-made interior as a kind of belle époque Parisian apartment. Murano lighting, marble staircases, parquet floors and mirrored walls bring an added sense of fantasy to an eclectic offering that embraces fashion salons and boudoirs, high fine jewellery collections, bars, restaurants, spa treatment pods, a old-world scent apothecary, a wine shop and a ‘playroom’. “We drew inspiration from the heritage of Printemps,” she said; “but this is New York and New York is very special because there are no boundaries here." At the store’s opening party in March 2025, actress Katie Holmes described the interior as having “a museum-like quality”.
And it is not just the maximalist interior design that has moved us away from the stark, neon-lit sales emporia of yesteryear. Unlike conventional department stores, Printemps does not include designer shop-in-shops, preferring to use its own merchandising artistry to energise 450 fashion and beauty brands (25% of which are not sold elsewhere in the US) in what Vogue described as “a tiny merchandising revolution in 54,000 square feet”.
Meanwhile under the direction of Queens-born Culinary Director Gregory Gourdet, five distinctive dining experiences transform the space into a sociable hub – skilfully blending a distinctly American, warm welcome with flavours from the former French colonies. At Maison Passerelle, for example, classic duck confit is spiced up with tamarind jus, and dry-aged NY strip with a Haitian coffee-chili rub – all served on vintage Parisian tableware. In contrast, coffee and pastries are served at Café Jalu, named after Printemps’ founders; Salon Vert is a nod to the classic Parisian bars serving raw seafood, bright salads and vegetable-focused dishes; the cosy all-day Red Room Bar invites you to shop while you snack, while the Champagne Bar proposes Pour Augustine house champagne with a view of the couture pieces in the Boudoir.
Fashion mavens and business commentators have hailed Printemps New York as the saviour of New York shopping, and its arrival certainly does reflect a shift. The luxury market of the 2020s is thirsty for soul. For refinement with character. Fashion with insouciance. Retail as entertainment. The kind of intrigue you get when you transplant aspects of the French art of living into a New York landmark. Whether or not it fulfils its promise remains to be seen. But for now, a better setting for the launch of Raffles’ new Butler Did It Collection of whimsical fashion pieces, luggage and home accessories could not have been imagined.
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