Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
Upon stepping into Alexis Bittar's newest boutique (which opened just last weekend), there is a sense of 1940s, pre-war glamour—but note there is nothing fussy about the costume jewelry specialist's shop. A pair of neon green taxidermy coyotes welcome you, a signature of the designer and created by artist Frank J. Zitz. Hitchock-inspired hand-painted bleeding cherry blossoms lend edge to the otherwise polished look of cool grey walls, crisp white trim, marble, and mirrored surfaces to ogle the glittery Bittar collections.
The store stocks Bittar's Elements, Lucite, and Miss Havisham lines, and come October, it will excitedly welcome the designer's fine jewelry launch. Shoppers can open each display box themselves to play with necklaces boasting embedded butterfly wings, gem encrusted geckos on lucite bangles, and sculptural pieces sure to make an outfit pop.
Now, there is one special case in the store: Bittar's antique collectibles, a fixture in every one of his ten boutiques. His love affair with baubles of decades past began as a young teen, pushing him to create must-haves of his own. But in this display, the designer invites customers to shop curated pieces he has found over the years.
Aside from being home to plenty of Bittar fans, this Boston location is special to the designer for other reasons as well:
"I have decided to bring my Brooklyn "streed-cred" to Boston. I have always loved traveling to Boston, not only is it geographically smack in the middle of where my parents live in Maine and where I live in Brooklyn, but the architecture is beautiful; the federal style townhouses that line the streets remind of the ones in my neighborhood in Brooklyn Heights." If you aren't heading there for the jewelry, you at least need to check out those saucy, blinged-out coyotes in the window. (But you'll probably stay for the sparkly goods.)
· Alexis Bittar [Official Site]