We are
Organization: Serena Uziyel
Date Opened: May 2024
Address: 444 Broome Street
Hours of Operation: Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
In May, Turkish designer Serena Uziyel opened the doors of her first U.S. store on Broome Street, with another location on Madison Avenue set to open this fall. We are thrilled to welcome this new offering to the SoHo Broadway corridor and wish them success in our district. We had the opportunity to learn more about what makes this business unique.
Tell us about your business.
Before launching her namesake line in 2019, in 2015 Turkish designer Serena Uziyel co-founded the Sanayi 313 label, which already showed her penchant for artisanal techniques and crafty embellishments. Prior to that, she spent two years in Spain for Zara International, after living in Italy to study shoes and bags at the Arsutoria School, where she met her mentor Giuseppe Joseph Amolo, a master shoemaker with decades of experience at Salvatore Ferragamo and Prada.
What brought your business to SoHo?
Uziyel studied at Parsons School of Design before landing jobs at the likes of Moschino, Calvin Klein and Donna Karan. The designer zeroed in on the Broome Street address for the brand’s retail debut as she once lived in the same neighborhood as a young student.
“Opening my brand’s store in two different locations in the city where I studied and gained vital experience is incredibly thrilling,” said Uziyel, defining the move a dream coming true.
What sets your business apart from the rest?
Conceived by architectural designer Esra Guray and interior designer Vivian Elvaşvili, the retail concept alternates natural oak elements with upholstered shelves in neutral tones, which contrast with the dark ceiling.
Overall, the space is dominated by pure lines, with the goal to focus the attention on the brand’s assortment of footwear and bags. These are crafted and woven by Uziyel and her collective team of 200 artisan women reprising traditional and nearly lost handicraft techniques of her native country. Key styles include mules and clutches marked by metallic threads worked into a chain motif, sandals embellished by appliques in twisted natural fibers such as raffia and flats with braided leather details.
