Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1260974
BY REBECCA SHERMAN CONSERVATORY THE CONSIDERED 24 A year has passed s i n c e P a p e r C i t y sat down with The C o n s e r v a t o r y ' s founder, Brian Bolke, to discuss the opening of the first store in New York City's Hudson Yards (his was one of the original tenants) and how it would revolutionize the retail experience. That interview ended with: Are there plans (or hopes) for future stores in other locations? Bolke's response: "I can't even think about it right now. I know the right path will reveal itself." And, indeed, it has. In the year since that conversation, the world has changed BY BILLY FONG more than we could have ever imagined. I visited with Bolke just a week after the shelter-in-place orders lifted in Dallas. Restaurants were operating at 25 percent capacity, and we met for lunch at Honor Bar. I forgetfully leaned inward for the usual hug and cheek kisses, then realized it wasn't time yet. Instead, we shared just a knowing wink. Of course, we started with the usual catch-up of what he's been doing for the past few months. Like most of us, he has read a lot and admits to some Netflix bingeing. Then came the reason for our meeting: He had just opened a third Conservatory, aptly named The Conservatory on Two, in Highland Park Village. It's positioned on the second floor, above Chanel and below the members- only Park House. It's a stone's (think of an emerald) throw away from a smaller Conservatory boutique that Bolke opened last September that will remain open and provides more of a storefront view of what one might encounter in the larger space on two. Some call Bolke a retail visionary, but I think of him as the retail whisperer. With so many stores calling it quits or filing Chapter 11 (Neiman Marcus, JC Penney, and J.Crew, to name just a few), he has quietly opened this new brick-and-mortar outpost. Bolke concedes that it might seem odd, given the state of retail. After all, he first opened Forty Five Ten, the legendary temple of fashion he founded on McKinney Avenue, around the same time Jeffrey (Atlanta, New York City) and Colette (Paris) opened their stores in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Both Jeffrey and Colette are now gone. (Headington Companies bought out Bolke's share of Forty Five Ten a few years back.) Over lunch, we chatted about the many issues that the retail and fashion industries must address in order to sustain themselves while leaving a smaller mark on our climate and environment. Bolke's ideas are what inform The Conservatory's mission and belief system of Considered Luxury — a term he's trademarked and that leads every decision he makes. For many years — long before others were beginning to comprehend sustainability and slow fashion — he embraced those tenets and consciously implemented best practices. Bolke says he is offering mindful pricing, and he hopes customers are choosing pieces that are meant to last. How have he and his company coped during the past few months while stores were forced to close? As much as we might consider fashion an essential business, it didn't make the cut; for months on end, stores were closed, and there were no shoppers. In person, at least. The Conservatory was conceived as the intersection of brick and mortar and The Conservatory on Two Bastide amber crystal potpourri in L'Objet bowl