Ulla Johnson’s new Upper East Side boutique feels like a ‘glowing jewel box of treasures’

When Jane Keltner de Valle, then an editor at Architectural Digest, visited Ulla Johnson’s Brooklyn home in 2019, she wrote that the brownstone reflected the American fashion designer’s ‘love of textiles and craftsmanship’ and ‘easy, effortless, sophisticated take on bohemian style’.

Jane eventually left the magazine world to join forces with her husband, the acclaimed designer Giancarlo Valle. And now, in a full circle moment, the pair, working under the moniker Valle de Valle, have unveiled their design for a new Ulla Johnson boutique on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Inside Ulla Johnson’s new Upper East Side address

The store marks Johnson’s fourth in the US (she also maintains a Paris showroom) – boutiques that are just as regarded for their stylish interiors as they are for the ready-to-wear and accessories displayed. In West Hollywood, Kelly Wearstler created a sunlit space imbued with California cool (not to mention cacti), while in downtown Manhattan, architect Elizabeth Roberts even polished the copper storefront and left it to oxidise for precisely 24 hours to achieve the just-so patina.

The Upper East Side location, though, would be something a bit different – a bit more grown up. ‘Having grown up just a few blocks away, it felt like a homecoming of sorts,’ Johnson tells Wallpaper*. ‘Each store is unique, and I hope, reflective of its environment, but I try to maintain a deeply personal sensibility throughout all our spaces.’

Luckily, the Madison Avenue location offered no shortage of inspiration for the Valles, with neighbours including Central Park, the recently expanded Frick Collection, and a Ralph Lauren flagship housed in a Gilded Age mansion. The designers also drew inspiration from Lorenzo Mongiardino, the Italian architect and designer whose well-heeled clients included Lee Radziwill, Aristotle Onassis and the Rothschild family, and who designed the opulent Gallery Room at the Carlyle hotel, just a few blocks north of the Ulla Johnson boutique.

‘We were very inspired by these landmarks and institutions and the history that comes with them,’ says Jane. ‘We also definitely channelled this idea of “Ulla goes Uptown”.’

To create a sense of history and quiet grandeur in a contemporary storefront, the Valles created an enfilade of residential-scaled rooms. ‘It was a weird space with columns breaking it up in a strange way. It just needed some organisation, so we created these intimate square rooms,’ Giancarlo explains.

‘We really sought to create that sense of history and that storytelling through the architecture and the decorative details,’ Jane adds.

Shoppers first encounter a light-filled front retail space, where – as with all Ulla Johnson boutiques – you feel as though you’re entering the home of a chic friend, rather than a clothing store. A monumental timber table displays accessories, while a glowing Fortuny lantern (Ulla ‘dug up a vintage tassel from her studio’ to personalise it, Jane shares). The room has a soft feel, thanks to plaster walls, wood furnishings and display niches, backed with burnished gold wall coverings. A custom console (Giancarlo designs furniture, which is available through the couple’s gallery Casa Valle) in front of the large windows showcases handbags, yes, but also similarly-scaled ceramics.

‘There are many vintage objects I’ve sourced over the years throughout my travels, and pieces from my own art and ceramics collection,’ Johnson says. ‘We approached many design decisions with a residential mindset and celebrated the hand of the artisanal collaborators in every detail.’

From the front room, visitors enter a ‘parlour’. To pass through the space, you must step through a thick archway, a move that allows shoppers to ‘reset every time you go into a different room,’ Giancarlo says. The passage appears to be clad in stone, but in a twist, is actually painted trompe l'oeil – a wink to the work of Lorenzo Mongiardino. ‘We had fun with the materials,’ Giancarlo adds.

In the parlour, a custom double-sided sofa is fringed in luxurious passementerie from Verrier Paris (you can find the same in the Frick Collection), where visitors can take a load off while perusing gowns that hang on minimal rods.

But the final space, or ‘boudoir’ is by far the most enveloping. Clad in cedar panelling and blanketed in a plush carpet, this room contains changing rooms as well as a pretty jewelry display case. Gauzy curtains, in a gold Dedar fabric, lend further softness to this more intimate room. ‘There’s such a strong color palette to Ulla’s world, and it tends to be a bit more blush-hued. And we got her to go for a more golden tone, which was exciting,’ Jane says.

And clearly, the Valles had the golden touch: ‘It feels like a glowing jewel box of treasures,’ Johnson says of the finished boutique. ‘There is a warmth. Gilded wall coverings, hand painted arches, lush textiles, luminous plaster – all things that I love.’

Ulla Johnson, 849 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021.

ullajohnson.com