Clic Bookstore & Gallery

Profile

Christiane Celle, the French-born, New York–based founder of the Calypso empire, split from the fashion label in April 2008 to launch this photography-focused chain of gallery-bookstore hybrids. The gallery portion of each store displays rotating monthly photography exhibits, ranging from New York street style to conceptual posed portraits. Celle (who is married to commercial photographer Antoine Verglas) sought to open an affordable gallery where shoppers could browse and buy photography without the intimidating atmosphere of other high-end art purveyors in the neighborhood. She personally chooses artists to showcase and sells signed, limited-edition prints starting at $750. The minimalist storefront models blond-wood floors, high ceilings, and sprawling white walls, with a varying assortment of furniture that corresponds with the theme of each exhibit. The book selection ranges from colorful coffee-table tomes spanning portraits, landscapes, and voyeuristic paparazzi shots, from Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power and Annie Leibovitz at Work to a limited-edition box set of the African photographs of Peter Beard. Books are propped on facing wall shelves, spread out on a round central table made of glass and driftwood. Photo anthologies are displayed in the front window. — Lauren Murrow