Turkish Accessory Brand Serena Uziyel Opens Store In Manhattan

While the retail storefront scene in Manhattan as a whole seems like there shouldn’t be this many, a few years post-COVID-19 shutdowns, one place that doesn’t have a lot of retail space left to rent is buzzy Manhattan (the former Barney’s New York excluded). Now adding to the mix is luxury accessories brand Serena Uziyel, who recently opened her sixth store there, with three in Turkey and now three in America. The single-brand retail space openings expand a customer base and point to the growing trend of brands focusing on DTC in their retail spaces, whose locations are easily determined based on online data.

New York is a full circle moment for accessories designer and brand Serena Uziyel. The founder and namesake brand director got her start in New York. After studying at Parsons School of Design, where she garnered crucial work-study experience with luxury brands Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and Moschino, Uziyel worked for Zara in Spain. After two years, she moved on to Sanayi313 in Istanbul, where she created the multi-disciplined label’s shoe and bag collections.

When she launched her brand in 2019, she looked to the craft of ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Sumeria, Babylon, and Persia, thus infusing each design with a rich heritage that incorporates storied techniques of looms, crochets, and filigree. She applies these artisanal practices to shoes with techniques and shoe-crafting skills she learned from Florence-based master cobbler Giuseppe Joseph Amolo. Much of these inspirations are found in the family’s manor.

Uziyel also focused on the DTC business model by opening her first store in Istanbul in 2019. Her next store was in Bodrum, followed by another in Turkey. With her third US store, Uziyel joins the post-pandemic migration to Madison Avenue, which resembled a luxury ghost town immediately following the COVID-19 shutdowns.

The 3,500-square-foot space is between 66^th and 67^th. It encompasses Uziyel’s vision for her lux accessories and design aesthetic, emphasizing female artisans and elevating its craft heritage to a sophisticated modern style. The new location will debut the Catena accessory group. The handwoven Catena chain detail, which alludes to unity, connection, and interconnected links of women, was initially used on footwear and has expanded its language to include day-to-night occasion handbags, chain-motif jewelry, and belts that feature the signature detail as well as a range of news interpretations of the décor which sits across the top of the foot on shoes.

To celebrate that bond, Uziyel invited a dynamic group of New York women, such as Mary Leest, Moraya Wilson, Natalie and Dylana Suarez, and Kristina Askerova, to celebrate the new store with an intimate dinner at New York’s Casa Tua.