Moody and theatrical, the new Cubitts Mercer Street in New York offers much more than the usual retail experience. The spectacle maker's first US store has just opened to a design by emerging London practice Tutto Bene – which pulled out all the stops in bringing together a conceptual, evocative and functional interior for what also is its foray into the city.
Inside Cubitts Mercer Street by Tutto Bene
'The mood is stepping from a breakfast-at-Tiffany’s-like NY shopping stroll moment into the layered depths of an Edward Hopper painting,' says Tutto Bene's Felizia Berchtold, who recently co-founded the London design studio together with architect Oskar Kohnen – the hand behind works such as a Barbican apartment interior refresh, and the midcentury modern-inspired offices for Crosstree Real Estate.
Back in New York, the design at Cubitts Mercer Street blends deep red and black surfaces with metallic tones and product displays in curved forms that nod to the 'S' shape of spectacles. Dark hues are contrasted by areas of light and brighter colours, in a composition that crafts drama in this alluring, almost mysterious 'treasure box' of a store.
'The space should evoke a palpable sense of preciousness, in line with our jewel-box-inspired design. Buying spectacles is personal and sensual, so we focused on creating a meaningful experience,' say Kohnen and Berchtold.
'On the one hand this meant meticulous focus on physical details and the quality of material and colour, but equally important were flow and customer journey – curating the encounters that take place in store.'
At the same time, this is all done with a fantastic economy of means, as in effect, this is a very minimalist interior – allowing the theatrical atmosphere to bring the product to the forefront to take centre stage.
-
Mexico's Office of Urban Resilience creates projects that cities can learn fromAt Office of Urban Resilience, the team believes that ‘architecture should be more than designing objects. It can be a tool for generating knowledge’
-
‘I want to bring anxiety to the surface': Shannon Cartier Lucy on her unsettling worksIn an exhibition at Soft Opening, London, Shannon Cartier Lucy revisits childhood memories
-
What one writer learnt in 2025 through exploring the ‘intimate, familiar’ wardrobes of ten friendsInspired by artist Sophie Calle, Colleen Kelsey’s ‘Wearing It Out’ sees the writer ask ten friends to tell the stories behind their most precious garments – from a wedding dress ordered on a whim to a pair of Prada Mary Janes
-
Step inside this resilient, river-facing cabin for a life with ‘less stuff’A tough little cabin designed by architects Wittman Estes, with a big view of the Pacific Northwest's Wenatchee River, is the perfect cosy retreat
-
Remembering Robert A.M. Stern, an architect who discovered possibility in the pastIt's easy to dismiss the late architect as a traditionalist. But Stern was, in fact, a design rebel whose buildings were as distinctly grand and buttoned-up as his chalk-striped suits
-
Own an early John Lautner, perched in LA’s Echo Park hillsThe restored and updated Jules Salkin Residence by John Lautner is a unique piece of Californian design heritage, an early private house by the Frank Lloyd Wright acolyte that points to his future iconic status
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthFrom wineries-turned-music studios to fire-resistant holiday homes, these are the properties that have most impressed the Wallpaper* editors this month
-
The Stahl House – an icon of mid-century modernism – is for sale in Los AngelesAfter 65 years in the hands of the same family, the home, also known as Case Study House #22, has been listed for $25 million
-
Houston's Ismaili Centre is the most dazzling new building in America. Here's a look insideLondon-based architect Farshid Moussavi designed a new building open to all – and in the process, has created a gleaming new monument
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fountainhead will be opened to the public for the first timeThe home, a defining example of the architect’s vision for American design, has been acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art, which will open it to the public, giving visitors the chance to experience Frank Lloyd Wright’s genius firsthand
-
Clad in terracotta, these new Williamsburg homes blend loft living and an organic feelThe Williamsburg homes inside 103 Grand Street, designed by Brooklyn-based architects Of Possible, bring together elegant interiors and dramatic outdoor space in a slick, stacked volume
