NEW YORK — The girl from Ipanema is really the girl from Monaco.
Stephanie Monserrat-Laurent, who was raised in the small principality on the Riviera but says her heart belongs to Brazil, is as good an emissary as anyone for the South American country’s fashion.
With equal parts kitsch and imagination, Monserrat-Laurent has transformed a 585-square-foot space at 946 Lexington Avenue between 69th and 70th Streets here into Buzz Brazil, a store that captures the energy and sex appeal of the beach resort.
At Buzz Brazil, Monserrat-Laurent is showcasing a handful of her favorite designers. Francesca Giobbi creates cowboy boots in pony and croc, purple and pink leather sandals with jewelry-like accents, killer red pumps and tan boots bearing the legend: “Please don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”
That pretty much sums up the if-you’ve-got-it-flaunt-it spirit of Buzz Brazil.
Many of the clothes and accessories have a handmade feel, including hand-crocheted boleros, tops by Adriana Barra that look like a Hermès scarf, and Annalise de Salle’s peasant-y looking tops in a variety of prints with lace sleeves and ribbon trim. A best-selling dress by Isabela Capeto is made of a sheer fabric, the better to get a peep of the large polkadots on the attached slip. For summer there will be bathing suits by Jode Mer, and not those Brazilian string bikinis known as fio dental, or dental floss, for their skimpiness.
“I did a special cut for American women and myself,” said Monserrat-Laurent, whose father founded the upscale children’s clothing brand Tartine et Chocolat.
To be profitable, Monserrat-Laurent said she’ll have to do $250,000 in sales in the store’s first year.
“The designers are all between 21 and 27 years old,” she said. “I found some of them in São Paolo at fashion week.”
Carlos Miele, who has a store on West 14th Street and shows in the tents during New York Fashion Week, is the country’s best known designer. But Brazil is finally getting some recognition. “Last year was Brazil year in France,” said Monserrat-Laurent. “Vogue, Le Official, Numero and Nylon focused on Brazil.”
Monserrat-Laurent’s requirement for accessories is only that they be fun. To this end, she stocks key chains made from stuffed animals embellished with ribbons and flowers, crocheted iPod cases and felt pins shaped like lips and eyes. Handbags are decorated with felt appliqués of beach scenes and flowers. They sell for $321 to $900.
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The atmosphere at Buzz Brazil is also fun. There’s a bottle of cachaça on the counter of the cash wrap lest anyone miss the point. The lethal sugar-cane liquor is used to make the national drink, the caipirinha.
The single dressing room has a curtain made of Brazilian chita fabric and the cash wrap looks like a seaside bar with fake vines climbing up the sides. Throughout the small store bicycle handlebars and wheels function as fixtures. Part of the ceiling is tiled to look like a Gaudi design and a section of the wall is covered with traditional Ipanema tiles.
On the wall behind the cash wrap there is a photograph of Rio de Janeiro’s beach with Sugarloaf in the background, framed to look like a window. A sign nailed to the wood frame reads Fiado so amanha!!, which loosely translates to “pay me tomorrow,” typical of Brazilians’ laid-back approach.
Aaron Gavois of Square Foot Realty brokered the deal for Buzz Brazil.
In addition to Buzz Brazil, Monserrat-Laurent will open a restaurant, Favella Chic, in the neighborhood at the end of the month. She’s hoping for some synergy between her ventures. “We’ll have fashion shows at the beginning of each season,” she said. And, of course, there will be caipirinhas galore.