The 3.3-inch-long Chiquito handbag that Simon Porte Jacquemus may be most widely recognized for has no correlation to the size of his ambitions.
Mr. Jacquemus, 34, who started his namesake brand in Paris 15 years ago, and who is known for staging grand fashion shows, opened a store in Manhattan on Friday. It is his first in the United States and fifth worldwide. (A location on the Avenue Montaigne in Paris, a street long home to luxury brands, opened in 2022, followed by stores in Seoul, St. Tropez and Dubai.)
Next month there are plans to open a Jacquemus store on New Bond Street in London and, in February, another on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.
The New York City store, on Spring Street in SoHo, is a new neighbor of a boutique belonging to another French brand that since June has been without a top designer. “It’s in front of Chanel,” said Mr. Jacquemus, who is among the people industry watchers are speculating could take over Chanel, a group that also includes Hedi Slimane and Jonathan Anderson.
“When someone leaves a big house, my name is mentioned more and more,” Mr. Jacquemus, whose Paris store also shares a street with a Chanel boutique, said on a phone call Thursday morning. “It means we are working in the right direction. It’s always nice to be in those rumors.”
Encroaching on turf occupied by Chanel is not a reflection of aspirations to join the luxury behemoth, the designer said, but of the way he sees his own brand.
“Ten years ago Anna Wintour asked me if I want to work for a big house,” Mr. Jacquemus said, referring to a conversation with the Vogue editor that he has brought up in previous interviews. “I told her I already work at one — it’s called Jacquemus.”
“I’m so happy with what I have, and I have big ambition,” he added.
Mr. Jacquemus also happened to like the look of the Federal-style building his SoHo store occupies, where previous tenants have included Crocs and, more recently, Pinko, an Italian women’s clothing brand.
A crowd had gathered outside the building when Mr. Jacquemus arrived to officially open the store on Friday morning. On the call the day before, he said that when he is greeted in America, it isn’t always by the correct name.
“People come up to me on the street here and call me Jack,” Mr. Jacquemus said, laughing. “I’m not Jack, this is not the Titanic. I’m Simon.”
He characterized opening stores in the United States as a natural next phase of the label he introduced in 2009 by dressing friends in his designs and sending them onto Avenue Montaigne during Paris Fashion Week. Since then, Mr. Jacquemus has further cultivated a reputation as a showman by hosting runway shows at the Château de Versailles and against the backdrop of the salt mounds in Camargue, a region in southern France.
Inside the two-story Jacquemus store in SoHo, which was developed by the architectural firm OMA, furniture by Frank Lloyd Wright and artworks by Joan Miró are displayed among Mr. Jacquemus’s eccentrically proportioned bags (starting at $450) and sculptural-meets-slinky clothes (starting at $150), which have been worn in social media campaigns by Dua Lipa, the K-pop star Jennie of Blackpink and the sister models Gigi and Bella Hadid.
With the store, “we are sending a signal,” Mr. Jacquemus said. “My ambition is to become a luxury brand, and I know there is a long way to go.”
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