No.6 | 01 Magazine

I stumbled upon this gem of a store a few years back in New York when I was searching for another boutique in the same area. I still remember this shop because the floor was just painted silver and the two owners, Morgan and Karin were a bit unsure about their color choice for the floor. Why this moment still remains in my mind after all these years was also because of the pleasant experience we encountered while shopping inside their establishment. The ambiance was very welcoming, and the friendliness of the staff made me feel like I was walking into my best friends bedroom to try on her selection of amazing merchandise. We effortlessly chatted, tried on clothes, and took our time. I walked out of No.6 with a new pair of sandals and a promise to go back to the store the next time I was in New York. We talk to the girls behind this charming boutique in Little Italy.

What was both your prior jobs?

Morgan: I worked for design companies sourcing vintage inspirations. Also I was a clothing stylist for editorial and music clients. I was with Lauren Hill on her world tour. That was life changing.

Karin: I was, and still am, a stylist for editorial and advertising clients.

How did you meet?

Karin: I met Morgan while I was styling and pulling clothes for shoots. She was working as a designer and press consultant for one of the designers I was pulling from.

Do you think that you have a lot in common?

Karin: I think we have a lot in common. We both love being creative and enjoy a lot of the same inspirations.We are always sharing things we have seen either recently or have dug up from the past. Whether it is fashion, art or music.

Morgan: I agree with Karin, we get excited about ideas and people and places. We enjoy sharing them with each other. If we have differences we try to understand the other. Even if we don’t agree we allow the other to see there vision out.I think we have learned a lot from one another.

Karin and Morgan

Where did the idea come to be to open up No 6.?How long did it take for you guys to open your boutique? Why Little Italy?

Karin: I had always wanted to open up a shop and Morgan had been curating some vintage inspiration pieces. When I saw her creations I loved every single piece. Immediately I thought this would be the perfect person to open up a store with. Morgan found the space in Little Italy on a very private street and we both loved it. It was originally suppose to be temporary but we were able to keep it permanently and it has been perfect. The store is called No.6 because of the address.

Why did you decide to call your store No.6?

Karin: We opened without a name and we would always hear our customers telling or calling their friends and saying they were at the No.6 store, or come to No.6 Centre market place. So they were already referring to us as ‘No.6’ one way or another. Plus, we liked it for its simplicity and old fashioned-ness.
What was one of the hardest things when you opened up your store? What was the easiest?

Morgan: Finding a balance on our visions, making sure it was right. It took a few months and lots of late nights toiling. Also when we first opened most people didn’t know about Centre Market Place , even if they had lived in New York for years. The easiest thing to do was being in the store with the customers. The space has such great energy.

Karin: The hardest thing for me was being in one place after 15 years of styling and I was constantly use to being all over the place.

Do you think the clothing that your store sells is a reflection of both your personalities?

Morgan: Yes it’s a good balance.

Karin: Absolutely, that is what makes the combination of tastes work so well.

When I first walked in your store a few years back, you didn’t have your private collection just yet. Did you always have the intentions to start your own collection of clothing and clogs?

Morgan: It was a organic evolution.

Karin: I think we always had the idea we would one day have our own collections. It started organically when we started making specialty things for the store and then more people heard about it.

Any genre or era inspirations in your clothing and clog collection? Do you both collaborate on the designs?

Morgan: I go through phases of different decades that influence me. Its more of a feeling, sometimes it comes from the vintage that we buy. Also places and people, nature and color and sometimes just doing nothing can be an inspiration because it allows your mind to be clear. Its mostly when I leave the city that I get more inspired. Yes, we collaborate on the collections. We try to keep the other in mind also when the other is not there.

Karin: We do both collaborate and design the collections together. I am inspired by different era or genres all the time. However not too much by the fifties for some reason.

Blanket Boot #68183

Thigh High Shearling Boot #69083-27

Lace Up Leather Boot #68183

Double Kiltie Clog #61483

Why do you think it’s important to have a cozy and pleasant atmosphere in your store?

Morgan: Stores in big cities can be so impersonal and sales people can be rude or not interested. We wanted to create a place where people would like to come and hang out and feel like they could be helped if they wanted or just simply left to shop. Also both of us having been stylists it came naturally to help customers and make them feel at ease. We treat customers how one would want to be treated.

Karin: I think in this day and age of larger stores, internet shopping and chain stores it is even more important to have an environment that is welcoming and personal. We know many of our customers by names, we know what they like to wear, as well as what they already own. A lot of customers tend to spend a lot of time in the store when they come in, often talking with us and other customers and just hanging out on our couch.

Do you have any vintage items that you own and covet?

Morgan: Yes, everything in our vintage archive. Only a small portion is for sale, most of its for rent for stylists and designers. It’s getting harder and harder to find great vintage pieces!

Karin: I have a closet full of vintage pieces and covet most of them. I have a vintage fur vest from London that I almost never take off, and I don’t even like to wear fur.

Do you think it’s important to surround yourselves with creative people?

Morgan: Yes I think other creative people are great because they understand your ideas, thoughts and you can build upon each others creativity. Also people that more left brain, are interesting as well because they have a different perspective.

Karin: Always, creativity breeds creativity. I pick up ideas and am inspired by interesting and creative people all day every day.

Who was the most recent artist that put an event on at your store?

Karin: The last artist we did something with was the sculptor Jim Drain and the one before that was Devendra Banhart.

Is there anything that inspires you both right now?

Morgan: I am about to be inspired by my travels that are coming. Also there are some new music albums that are in my Itunes that I can’t stop playing. Recently I went to the falling water house in Pennsylvania. Also stayed in a Frank lloyd Wright prefab house overnight. Now I just want to stay overnight in all six houses around the world that are open to the public. Its my new obsession!

Karin: Right now I am inspired by classic Russian literature, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Solzhenitsyn. Not really sure where this came from but can’t stop reading.

Who do you love?

Morgan: Karl Lagerfeld … is there anyone else ? Besides the obvious friends, family, my partner, people that have come before us that are inspiring and took risks. There are too many to list.

Karin: Other than my family and Frank, my dog ?

Karin, what would you say is Morgan’s strongest quality? Morgan, how about Karin’s?

Morgan: Karin has an amazing sense of humor and a knack for turning a stressful or crazy situations into something to laugh about. She exudes style and has a great work ethic.

Karin: Dedication, everything Morgan does she does it 200%. I dont know how she does it.