GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Behind a locked glass door in the chaotic maw of the Manhattan Bridge’s western terminus, Vowels is a calm respite and the first permanent physical location of the made-in-Japan designer brand. As an adult who unapologetically wears hoodies, I’ll say this ($375) is a great one: heavy with a relaxed silhouette and a hood big enough for sheltering from the elements, the world, or a boring conversation. The mohair cardigan ($450) is soft yet robust and the company’s logo is cheekily engraved on the shell buttons. (Vowels is a wonderful name for a clothing brand.)
Occupying the middle third of the narrow rectangular store is a rack with 200 magazines, books, and printed ephemera from creative director Yuki Yagi’s personal collection. Visitors can make an appointment for this research library, either requesting that the staff pull publications aligning with their guests’ interests in advance or perusing the already selected offerings that rotate every six weeks. The day I went, the theme was interior objects. I picked a handful of periodicals, then brought them to the colorful sitting area at the back of the store. A staffer offered me water and tea while I flipped through an issue of Brutus from 1987, the catalogue of Italian design furniture from a 1984 exhibition in Tokyo, and a book about Japanese pottery entirely in Japanese. The Bowery felt far more than 75 feet away.
I bookmarked notable pages with provided slips of cardboard, then used a color scanner to store the images on a Vowels computer and airdrop them to my phone. It was time to go. I took a final skim through the racks of clothing before slipping out the front door and back into the Manhattan din, refreshed and inspired. –Noah Davis
→ Vowels (Chinatown) • 76 Bowery • Sun-Wed 11a-6p • Reserve for research library appointments.