Spring in Her Step

To design the new Manhattan outpost of Printemps, Laura Gonzalez celebrates history, craft, and blooms of rare beauty

- SAM COCHRAN

1. AT PRINTEMPS NEW YORK, ONE WALL STREET'S LANDMARK RED ROOM HAS BEEN REBORN AS A RETAIL WONDERLAND. 2. AD100 DESIGNER LAURA GONZALEZ IN THE SO-CALLED BOUDOIR, WHICH IS OUTFITTED WITH SCREENS BY PARISIAN ATELIER MAURY.

For people everywhere, the start of spring signals a time of rebirth and a breath of fresh air. For New Yorkers, the vernal equinox also issued a call to shop. On March 20, the storied Parisian department store Printemps (that’s French for spring) debuted its new Manhattan flagship, a 55,000-square-foot stunner spread across two Financial District buildings—one a historic Art Deco bank, the other a 1960s glass office tower. Like its predecessor, which revolutionized retail when it debuted on Boulevard Haussmann in 1865, the goal at Printemps New York was to create not simply a shop but a multisensory world of delight.