RON DORFF LANDS IN THE U.S.

Popular European menswear brand Ron Dorff has officially opened its first U.S. flagship store. Located at 475 Broome Street in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, the new shop joins the brand’s already established European network of stores in Paris, London, and Berlin.

Far from the one-for-all designs of many classic luxury brands, Ron Dorff adapts its concept for each new store opening in order to preserve as much of the original architecture as possible. Whether in Rue du Dragon on the Left Bank in Paris, Alte Schönhauser Strasse in Berlin Mitte, or the Royal Exchange in the City of London, it starts with the beauty the space itself has had since the day it was built.

As founder and CEO, Claus Lindorff, said, “Each and every space we have chosen for a physical store – Paris, London, Berlin, and New York – has been in historical buildings with impressive, imposing architecture. We have always been able to respect the original structures with our simple, functional, Scandinavian design to ensure each store is unique while epitomizing the Ron Dorff aesthetic.”

The New York shop, located in The Gunther Building, a SoHo landmark that dates back to 1873, is one of numerous grand 19th-century buildings found in downtown New York. The 4,800 square foot interior space has impressive 18-feet ceilings and is centered around three Corinthian wrought-iron pillars, as well as an original floor made of small tiles in mother-of-pearl tones.

The store’s furniture is inspired by the brand’s functional and simple Scandinavian roots: bright birch wood, matte, black-painted wrought iron, and neutral white walls & ceilings.

Exceptional pieces from Swedish (Uppsala) and French (Tours) university gymnasiums are placed throughout the space: A horse bench from 1934, a vaulting box from 1947, a gym mat from 1924, and a punching bag from 1928 – all in leather. Each piece reminds visitors of Ron Dorff’s brand proposition: upgrading iconic menswear must-haves of the past, from sportswear to homeware to underwear and swim.

The renovation and design have been supervised by the Brooklyn-based firm Jon Powell Architecture, which has been behind numerous high-end commercial and residential projects in the greater New York City area.

This opening follows this week’s launch of the brand’s new fragrance, Discipline Sport Pour Homme, created in collaboration with Scent Beauty.

Lindorff launched Ron Dorff in 2012 and has since grown the business to five standalone stores (two in Paris, two in London, and one in Berlin), as well as a global wholesale network of over 70 high-end retail partners. The brand has a highly successful e-commerce business, which accounts for 85 percent of global sales, with 35 percent of those sales coming from the U.S – which was the catalyst for expanding its brick-and-mortar here in the States.

The arrival in NYC will also bring the launch of Ron Dorff’s first U.S. return center and the ability to ship from the newly-opened SoHo store (all housed in the store), adding new services for both NYC and U.S. customers.