Profile

Seeking a comfortable, offbeat setting for their Ale et Ange line of sixties-tinged menswear and womenswear, co-designers Osore Oyagha and Eloise Simonet transformed a dingy basement den into a cozy makeshift London apartment. A sidewalk-level hatch and steep metal staircase lead to a bright-red door with an ornate brass knocker. Inside, the store’s studio-like setup rivals neighboring apartments, containing a kitchen (complete with an oven and stove), vintage bathtub, and living-room area replete with family photos, faux mounted deer heads, a stacked bookcase, and a record player. (Oyagha’s substantial jazz collection is on constant rotation.) The menswear is loosely inspired by late-fifties and mid-sixties jazz style: wool trousers in plaids and tweeds, denim and cotton button-downs, leather loafers, and an array of slim ties splayed across a drying rack. The more limited (though expanding) women’s selection offers classic button-downs, cotton dresses, and skirts. Wooden shelves near the tub are stocked with old-timey soaps and apothecary potions from Italy, France, England, Portugal, and Sweden. Though the wares convey a certain international sensibility—Oyagha hails from West London; Simonet, from France—all the clothing is manufactured in New York in limited runs. — Lauren Murrow