Aside from designer dresses, leather handbags and custom sofas, some of the most famous luxury brands now offer another luxury experience to New York: catering.
From Polo Bar to La Merceries, designer-owned restaurant fashion is a continuing growth trend. In 1998, Giorgio Armani became one of the earliest luxury fashion designers to enter the restaurant world of Emporio Armani Café and Armani/Ristorante in Paris, and has since expanded it to twenty venues throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America. Last year, only last year, including Armani and Louis Vuitton’s first ever New York restaurant, as well as a new collaboration between Bergdorf Goodman and Ginori in 1735, including three new design concepts for Armani and Louis Vuitton.
“Ceating is a primitive human experience – whether it’s gathering to celebrate, or stopping to relax and nourish after a long day. In many ways, restaurants are the deification of design, a complete sensory experience that unites objects, interiors and people. As we find people as rewards for the ultimate luxury, more and more brands and creators seem to be eager to expand from the realm of “things” to play a role in shaping the memory of customers,” Robin Standefer, founder of Roman and Williams Gilder and Lamurray, told Observer.
Is it one thing to choose a destination based on shopping – are you looking for a light fixture or a spring jacket? But determining where to create memories is another matter, how to choose when it comes to restaurants owned by designers or in luxury stores? We searched for classics and new competitors to curate a list of restaurants that drive the limits of design and use the culinary art to go deeper.
