With barely twenty-four hours left until the official doors swing open at 27 Ludlow Street on New York’s Lower East Side, designers Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta are still very much in the thick of last-minute preparations. A quick glance around the space reveals a few lingering imperfections, such as minor scuffs on the floor that Latta jokingly warns against mentioning, alongside exposed dressing rooms patiently awaiting their missing curtains. "It’s a new concept," Eckhaus quips as he walks past, deadpan. "It’s all about sexy! It’s like the Barneys Warehouse Sale!"
Pausing by a suspended clothes rack brimming with fresh fall arrivals, Latta laughs about the frantic pace of the preceding minutes when they suddenly realized they actually needed to hang clothes. Eckhaus chimes in with a reminder that Vogue is scheduled to visit soon, capturing the chaotic, make-it-up-as-you-go charm that has made Eckhaus Latta such a captivating fixture in the contemporary fashion landscape. Rather than adopting the sterile, overly polished approach of impersonal megabrands, the duo has consistently cultivated a distinct real-world cool. As they approach 15 years in business—hot on the heels of high-profile collaborations with Mango and J.Crew, paired with an impressive streak of increasingly sophisticated runway presentations—the designers have remarkably managed to preserve their foundational, independent spirit. During a conversation earlier this summer, Eckhaus even affectionately referred to their enterprise as a "geriatric independent small brand."
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Brick-and-mortar retail is certainly no stranger to the brand’s business model. Latta, who is based in Los Angeles, opened their first retail shop there back in 2016, while Eckhaus spearheaded a New York location in 2018 on the second floor of a bustling Chinatown mall. However, in the eight years since that second-floor storefront opened, the brand has expanded significantly, and the surrounding mall has transformed from a collection of small art galleries into a thriving vintage mecca. Latta notes with a laugh that they could actually see neighboring window displays featuring second-hand Eckhaus Latta pieces, signaling that it was finally time for the brand to seek out new quarters.
For the designers, physical storefronts represent much more than just strategically upscale points of sale; they are environments for world-building. Latta describes herself as a somewhat pathological real estate hunter who discovered the Ludlow Street property earlier this year through a mutual friend. The pair first toured the space on the morning of their fall 2026 show in February and officially signed the lease in August. What followed was a breathless six-week race to ready the location for its public debut. The new site more than doubles their previous selling space while cleverly consolidating seven different leases into a single epicenter that houses retail operations, the design studio, personal archive storage, a photo studio, and a stock room all under one roof.
Because the new storefront had not previously functioned as a street-facing commercial property, it required substantial infrastructure upgrades, including extensive plumbing and electrical work, alongside standard architectural modifications. To bring the vision to life, Eckhaus and Latta leaned heavily on their trusted network of creative peers. Camilla Deterre, their in-house fit model, stepped in as project manager, while Emma Price, a childhood friend of Latta’s who works as an architect, handled both the architecture and interior design elements. Sophie Stone took charge of the floral arrangements and contributed painted rope-and-cardboard art pieces that double as rugs. Latta emphasizes that these collaborators are people they converse with, hang out with, and work alongside every single day, noting that they are also formally trained and highly skilled professionals. Eckhaus adds that it is deeply rewarding to find new ways to collaborate with friends, even if it occasionally involves six people passionately debating the merits of a single rug.
The resulting interior totals 940 square feet of retail space in the front half, featuring ceiling-suspended rails, a genuine cash register, dressing rooms, and additional standing racks. Tucked behind the retail area is a 700-square-foot studio space illuminated by a natural skylight. The color palette incorporates the brand’s signature unexpected hues, utilizing pale yellow walls and creamy gray floors specifically painted in Farrow & Ball’s "New White" and "Lamp Room Gray." Furniture was sourced through their friend David Lê and given custom creative touches, including an ottoman topped with brushed shearling sourced from Latta’s hometown of Santa Cruz.
Despite the frantic sprint to the finish line ahead of tonight’s opening party and tomorrow morning’s public launch, Eckhaus and Latta view the space less as a rigid final product and more as an evolving, fluid project. Latta notes their excitement about how things adapt, expressing a preference for a space that can be rearranged frequently rather than feeling overly concrete and permanent.
This philosophy extends even to the building’s exterior. The storefront features a space-age, silver-painted cinder block facade complete with craggy stones and weathered air conditioning units, giving it a wonderfully gritty, wonky appearance that honors the character of the neighborhood. While their initial instinct was to strip everything away and start fresh, they quickly realized that the weathered exterior tells a genuine story about the street. Rather than spending a significant sum to replace the facade immediately, they have chosen to embrace it until the feeling is right and they are genuinely ready for a change.
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While Latta has long worked directly adjacent to the Los Angeles shop, the Ludlow Street location marks a first for Eckhaus in sharing office space directly with retail operations. Latta shares that she frequently overhears feedback from customers in the dressing rooms in Los Angeles, noting that retail staff often return with humorous anecdotes about customers’ specific reactions to colors or fits. She believes having this immediate, unfiltered feedback loop will be a welcome and beneficial experience for Eckhaus as well. Eckhaus chimes in with a characteristic quip, joking that he can now actively chase people out of the store if needed.
Reflecting on the overwhelmingly positive reactions to their recent collection, which many critics highlighted as a standout moment of New York Fashion Week, Latta expresses a deep sense of support from the community. She notes that their enthusiasm is further fueled by substantial growth within their direct-to-consumer business, emphasizing that maintaining control over various aspects of the business is increasingly crucial during a volatile time for the broader fashion industry. Indicating that they are ready to take major steps forward and remain open to various possibilities, Latta looks at Eckhaus before delivering a direct message about the brand’s next chapter. As they acknowledge their active search for investment, Eckhaus enthusiastically encourages interested parties to send an email.
