On the buzzing corner of East 57th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan, an owl blinks while a hummingbird flaps its wings.
The mechanical birds are part of a woodland fantasy heralding the redesign of Dior’s New York flagship store.
On Wednesday night, magazine editors, clients and celebrities including the actors Anna Sawai, Priyanka Chopra, Ashley Park, Kate Mara and Sam Nivola gathered there to catch up and clink flutes before rushing off to other New York Fashion Week happenings.
Entering this fantasy world, one’s first impression is of the garden, a passion of the brand’s founder, Christian Dior. Customers are invited to wander its three floors of clothes, bags, and jewelry at their leisure. They can also climb to the fourth-floor summit, where those not content to wear Dior on their skin can scrub it into their pores at the new Dior Spa.
The space was the brainchild of the architect Peter Marino, who is known for designing stores for Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Giorgio Armani, among other brands. He has worked with Dior since 1994, when he redid the look of its Paris shop.
“I want people to see a garden in the windows,” said Mr. Marino, dressed in his signature head-to-toe black leather. “The sun is so strong on this corner, like the sunniest spot for miles!”
The centerpiece of the refreshed store is a spiral staircase featuring a rainbow display of recognizable Dior designs rendered in miniature, like 1947 “New Look” silhouette and the saddlebag purse by John Galliano, who helmed the brand from 1996 to 2011.
At the reopening party, a traffic jam of wide-eyed guests and photo opportunists clogged the staircase most of the evening. Five years in the making, the redesign aligns with the debut of Jonathan Anderson as the brand’s new creative director.
“These great houses need fresh blood,” Mr. Marino said.
The last significant renovation of the Dior’s New York flagship came in 2010. Along with the addition of the spa and a housewares boutique next door, the new face-lift bring the various departments into a more unified whole.
“Every 10 years or so, I get to renew one of these, though I think they say your cells reproduce every seven years?” Mr. Marino said. “I’m trying to get these brands to step it up!”
Ms. Park, known for her role on Netflix’s “Emily in Paris,” posed for pictures while her stylist and date, Brad Goreski, held her white handbag just out of frame. Fresh from filming the series’ fifth season, she had popped in earlier for a treatment at the recently opened spa.
“It was the most scientific facial I’ve had in a while!” Ms. Park said.
Located at the top of a steep staircase, the Dior Spa is a beige and cream sanctum where a 60-minute facial starts at $450 and a two-hour Haute Couture Treatment costs $1,300. Customers are wrapped in sheets embroidered with quotes, in French, from Mr. Dior.
Down below, as servers carried trays of pea-and-sage tarts, the crush of guests became a steamy mob. Ms. Sawai, the Emmy-winning star of “Shogun,” was outfitted in a white mod minidress by Mr. Anderson.
“I’m channeling a doll,” Ms. Sawai said. “Pure, innocent.”
She mentioned that she met Mr. Anderson for the first time last week in Paris, adding that she was excited for the debut of his new ready-to-wear line next month.
The actor Will Price, another member of Mr. Anderson’s coterie, ducked away from the throng. He was dressed in a white cable knit sweater by the designer with pink flower embroidery.
“He’s playing with a new direction of masculinity,” Mr. Price said.
Dara Allen, the fashion director of Interview Magazine, wearing neon green vintage Stephen Sprouse, posed in front of the rainbow staircase.
“Dior is the closest thing we have to fashion fairy tale,” Ms. Allen said. “I like to walk around uptown and pretend I’m Holly Golightly and just look into windows. I’m glad there are some new windows to look into.”
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