Cult Korean perfumer Nonfiction just opened the loveliest boutique on the Lower East Side

When Korean entrepreneur Haeyoung Cha launched a fragrance brand in 2019, she named it Nonfiction, an homage to the quiet stories that make up everyday life.

The story of how Cha found her first-ever US store, though, practically wrote itself. On a scouting trip to New York, she came across a corner storefront on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that was flooded with natural light. While she’d seen plenty of prospective spaces to potentially house a boutique, this one hadn't been on her agent’s list. ‘I just walked up the street and saw the “for rent” sign. And we called up the landlord,’ Cha says. The space was hers.

This week, Cha and her team are finally opening the doors to Nonfiction’s only dedicated North American flagship, after launching locations across South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand. Nonfiction has become wildly popular in those markets for its delicate perfumes and skincare; natural ingredients; and minimal retail spaces defined by neutral palettes of cream, white and wood. To gain a foothold in New York, however, Cha wanted something different. ‘We wanted to create a space that felt like it always existed. We didn't want it to be something that was so brand new and flashy, but something that could really fit into this neighbourhood.’

The Lower East Side – more specifically the ‘Dimes Square’ enclave where the storefront sits – reminded Cha of Seoul’s Hannam-dong neighbourhood, where she established the first Nonfiction boutique, or pre-gentrification Williamsburg in Brooklyn. She wanted a designer that could offer a refined version of that creative spirit. So she tapped the award-winning design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero (CHH), a multidisciplinary practice known for its interplay of history and wit. ‘The thing that was interesting to us was the idea of mixing eras and artists,’ explains architect and firm principal Andre Herrero. ‘It really was thought of as a gallery, in a way.’

Rather than ‘white box it’, the design team aimed to create a space that had a residential feel. As such, their moodboard was filled with images of ‘domestic art-space interiors’: Pierre Chareau and Bernard Bijvoet’s Maison de Verre in Paris; Carlo Scarpa-designed museum displays; and Philip Johnson’s Houston residence for John and Dominique de Menil.

At first blush, the Nonfiction store has a minimal feel, with its lime-washed walls and slick finishes, but gradually – as you take in the soft scents of cedarwood, blackcurrant and rose that waft through the space – the sophistication of the scheme reveals itself. The floors, for instance, are covered in glossy, oxblood red tiles, a move that introduces a hit of colour while visually grounding the space. At its centre, is a wood table displaying Nonfiction’s perfumes; rather than specifying a more contemporary design, in true CHH fashion, the team introduced a custom Queen-Anne style table designed by Doug McCollough. A hand-washing niche at the store’s rear is clad in tiles depicting black roses hand-painted by CHH principal Adam Charlap-Hyman’s mother, artist Pilar Almon.

The antique-y vibes are juxtaposed with slicker, modernist references. Stainless steel shelving displaying creams, haircare, candles and gift sets, for instance, take the form of a grid reminiscent of Maison de Verre’s façade. A stairwell at the front of the store is concealed within a sculptural triangular volume. And a custom, ceiling-height tubular column light bathes the space in soft light. It all, says Herrero, ‘contributes to this very compositional array of objects on this cool glossy floor’.

While the Nonfiction store has a decidedly New York feel, it was important to showcase the work of Korean artists, says Cha, who, prior to starting the brand, ran an art collective in Seoul. Most notable are works by New York-based Korean designer and frequent Nonfiction collaborator Minjae Kim, which include an abstract aluminum chair and a glowing fibreglass and resin sconce with a delicate white cord secured by a single tack. Also on display is a painting by artist Chulhwa Kwon, surrounded by an antique frame.

‘Sometimes I ask myself, is it fiction or nonfiction,’ Cha says, reflecting on her brand’s name and evolution. ‘Because I have a lot of personas – I am a wife, a daughter and a boss – and sometimes connecting with yourself is hard.’ By introducing her fragrances to new customers, she hopes to make that task just a bit easier and, hopefully, coax them to write their own next chapter.

Nonfiction is located at 38 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002