Ahlem Manai-Platt—L.A.’s Favorite Sunglass Designer—Is Opening Her First NYC Store

Ahlem Manai-Platt’s first New York store was a long time coming. The eyewear designer and 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund runner-up fell in love with the Elizabeth Street block between Houston and Prince Streets six years ago and has been patiently waiting for the right spot ever since. Two leases slipped through her fingers, and this one she signed without even seeing the space itself. “It was my dream, next to Aesop, across from Le Labo; I didn’t think it was a big risk,” she says.

That said, Elizabeth Street is not short on sunglasses. Persol is up the block, as is an outpost of the vintage-inspired line Vint & York. But Manai-Platt isn’t worried about the competition; she doesn’t see much overlap between their offerings and hers. What distinguishes Ahlem from its soon-to-be neighbors is a handmade-in-France quality. “You see it immediately, from the engraving on the temples to the nose pads,” says Manai-Platt. “Our glasses are also understated. In our range [the average price for a pair of Ahlem shades is high, about $500] understatement is key, because our competitors are out there. They’re big, there’s gold everywhere, and they’re blingy; we do glasses in a very Parisian way.”

In any case, the Ahlem store, which has been designed by Shapeless Studio, a Brooklyn architecture firm that specializes in residential renovations, will soon have something that the other shops don’t. Artist installations. Manai-Platt’s hometown outpost on Abbot Kinney in Venice, California, is rounded out with lifestyle items like candles, stationery, and small leather goods. The New York space, she felt, called for something different. “Here, you meet an artist every five minutes,” Manai-Platt says. She hopes to install her first show in the months after the boutique opens. And after that? She’s shopping for locations in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and Scottsdale, Arizona, for starters. “From the people who work for Ahlem to our design, everything is very coherent, we just need to be more present it to the world,” she says. “That’s where my focus is right now. It will only make us stronger.”

Ahlem opened at 228 Elizabeth Street in New York City on February 24.