(Photo: David Sundberg/Esto/Courtesy of Gant)

It’s hard to imagine that it took Gant a mere four months to take its Fifth Avenue flagship from an unremarkable sportswear emporium to something so artful, but the brand is in the midst of a major image overhaul. Architect Annabelle Selldorf turned the stockroom on the lower level into a selling floor and transformed the façade using three stories of steel and painted glass. The heart of the 6,600-square-foot space is a spiraling four-story staircase, shown here, that serves as a gallery tracing the brand’s preppy history. At the top, women’s riding boots ($345), sumptuous black-and-gray-striped wool sweaterdresses ($138), and a selection of adorable gray-and-brown tweed blazers for kids ($185). Elsewhere, there’s the edgy men’s and women’s spin-off line Rugger (best item: fatigue jackets, $395) and the rarefied Elliot Gant collection including tailored dress shirts (from $115) and suits (from $795). And there’s more in store: This spring, Gant Limited Edition, a new fashion collection, materializes.

Gant
645 Fifth Ave., nr. 51st St.; 212-813-9170

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• Archive: “The Storefront: Openings & Closings”
• Articles by Aja Mangum
• Table of Contents: Oct 1, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!