Actress Angelina Jolie’s new fashion venture is open for business in a historic two-story Lower East Side building once owned by Andy Warhol and famously occupied by street art pioneer Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Cutting the ribbon in December, Atelier Jolie is part high-end retail boutique and part art space, billed on its website as “a place for creative people to collaborate with a skilled and diverse family of expert seamstresses, pattern makers and artists from around the world. world” in a letter written by the Oscar-winning actor.
It also has a cafe, opened in partnership with Eat Offbeat, an organization that hires from the local refugee community to prepare regional fare from Syria, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Senegal.
The cafe serves a wide variety of dishes that highlight the global food trail, including chicken yassa and katarica curry bowls and a range of fair trade coffees and teas. It also accepts orders on GrubHub.
The retail floor is staffed in part by current students and graduates of the Parsons School of Design. Shoppers, who can visit by appointment only, will find items in a range of price points, from a $495 jacket with a trio of interchangeable collars to a silk A-line skirt at $195, according to Harper’s Bazaar.
Angelina Jolie cuts the ribbon on her luxury retail boutique and art space in December 2023. Getty Images Atelier Jolie is part luxury retail boutique and part art space. Rick Davis/SplashNews.com
Also available is a $15 plain white T-shirt meant to be customized in-store with various additional paints, screen prints and patches.
Proceeds from the sale of the patch go to charity and the artist who created it, the outlet said.
Jolie admitted that she was “probably going to lose money, maybe for a while,” at her store in a December interview with WSJ Magazine.
“If I can finally put into practice some things that I think are improvements and I just break even, that’s a big win,” he said.
Before the “Girl, Interrupted” star, 48, took over, the graffiti-covered building at 57 Great Jones Street was listed for lease with Meridian Capital Group for $60,000 a month. However, it was not immediately clear how much the actor paid to rent the space, which reportedly signed an eight-year term.
Civil War-era structures have a storied history even predating its art scene roots.
Built in the 1860s, the building once served as headquarters for notorious Five Points Gang leader Paul Kelly.
Jolie’s new fashion venture is open for business in a historic two-story building on the Lower East Side once owned by Andy Warhol and famously occupied by street art pioneer Jean-Michel Basquiat. Matthew McDermott It also has a cafe, opened in partnership with Eat Offbeat, an organization that hires from the local refugee community. RCF / MEGA
From 1970 to 1990, the building was owned by Andy Warhol Enterprises Inc., which leased a second-floor studio to neo-expressionist legend Jean-Michel Basquiat, who both lived and worked there from 1983 to 1988.
Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at 57 Great Jones Street on August 12, 1988 at the age of 27. Since his death, Basquiat’s reputation as an artist has skyrocketed, with some of his works fetching north of $100 million at auction.
Atelier Jolie is forthright in acknowledging the sensitive history of opening a commercial enterprise in such a high-rise building, saying on its website that it is “a privilege to be in this space.”
The team has also gone to great lengths to preserve as much of its historic look as possible, retaining its usual front panel adorned with peeling, sun-beaten decals and graffiti of varying quality.
Al Diaz, a Brooklyn artist and longtime friend and early Basquiat collaborator, was contacted by Jolie’s assistant after his team discovered a graffiti wall he had created as part of a 2018 pop-up art exhibit held in the space.
Also available is a $15 plain white T-shirt meant to be customized in-store with various additional paints, screen prints and patches. Rick Davis/SplashNews.com
Wanting to know more about his origins, the assistant invited Diaz out to lunch at the expensive Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria restaurant right next door to 57 Great Jones, a meal attended by Jolie herself.
“For someone who comes from where he works, Hollywood royalty, he’s pretty normal,” Diaz told The Post Monday, describing the “Maleficent” star as “generous.”
He said he was “fuzzy” about what he wanted to do with the building – “probably controlled,” he added.
“When he describes it it seems more art-oriented, but it’s more fashion-oriented, really,” he said.
When asked how he felt about the business venture of opening a shop in his friend’s former home, who famously rejected the commercialization of his work, Diaz shared a pragmatic perspective.
“He used the historical cache of the building, but so did everyone else who moved into the space,” Diaz said.
“Let’s face it: it’s a very desirable space that some people would like to see turned into a museum, but that doesn’t seem realistic,” he said.
“You need money to get in there, considering how much it costs. It would be great if it was a museum but I don’t see anyone getting up and doing that.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
