Babel Fair: Straight from the Crate

Every time I walk past the shop Babel Fair in Nolita, I am struck by how much I enjoy their clever banged-together interiors.

Store owner Erica Kiang carries a collection of contemporary womens clothing and accessories from around the globe. If you can't shop for interesting items from around the globe yourself, its seems like Erica is your go-to girl. The shop is filled with special pieces she brings in from far-flung places, and its not the obvious designer labels she is carrying either which makes this store even more special.

I decided to find out more about the store design, so rang the shop owner to get a first hand account of how it all came together. Turns out Erica joined forces with the super talented Unfold, a creative consulting studio based in Brooklyn. Basing their theme on travel, (since thats how you usually get things across the big wide ocean back to your closet at home) they used old luggage, crates and chests in their design. They needed a large central table to display accessories so with the help of their carpenters they hammered together this massive piece and interjected the mismatched lugguage pieces. The whitewashed finished gives the store a clean look and allows the wares to be displayed well.

Stacked crates of varying depths make a perfect display for merchandise at the back of the store and it doesn't hurt that its painted sulphur yellow either.

The incredible graphics precariously hand drawn upside down from the ceiling are by Yuyu Chen of Unfold as are the brilliant window displays.

So there's the story.