Canadian luxury brand WANT: Les Essentiels de la Vie have opened their first stand-alone store in the US. Their new store is located in New York City, the West Village at 301 W 4th to be more precise. The new store occupies a charming townhouse; the brand went to great lengths to preserve the welcoming and warm feeling that one would feel as they enter someone’s home. And it succeeds.
The brand’s co-founders Byron and Dexter Peart have meticulously curated the shop to showcase their own brand and other international brands to round out the lifestyle feeling of the ‘home’. The space draws guests in through great design and sunlight-flooded rooms. The boutique’s first-floor “living room” houses the complete WANT Les Essentiels accessories collection. While the adjacent room resembles an amazing walk in closet and includes men’s apparel, women’s apparel, and the WANT Les Essentiels footwear collection. Guests can even take a relaxing pause in the ‘tea room’ and discover a great selection of essential tools for living over a cup of tea.
“Our brand has always spoken to an inherent sense of discovery and community,” say Byron and Dexter. “The way we live our lives, traveling between Montreal and New York, we have come to value permanence and a strong connection to something familiar. With this boutique, we wanted to create an environment that feels comfortable, honest and at peace.”
The brand’s founding principles of clean lines, curation, and meticulous editing are evident throughout the entire boutique. One can expect rotating brands and offerings based on the concept of necessity rather than just seasonality. The concept is much more about quality and time tested brands or products rather than the latest fad or trend. The boutique not only showcases the quintessential WANT Les Essentiels favorites but also includes some of the brother’s other favourite brands across all categories: fashion, home and accessories. Shoppers will be able to shop the following brands: TOMORROWLAND, Commes des Garçons Forever, Aspesi,, Filippa K , 1205, Casely-Hayford, Byredo, Carl Auböck, Malle w. Trousseau, Hasami Porcelain, and Paper & Tea.
“We wanted to offer guests curated finds, which we’ve sourced from all over the world – items that are ‘tools for living.’ This concept is very innate to the brand: essential items that you need and would want to travel with, that you like to have around all the time, that give you a sense of security and necessity in your life.”
To learn more about the WANT brand, read our profile of the two brothers here.
