“It’s a shop, not a gallery,” says Andy Spade of Partners & Spade, the downtown Manhattan retail space/office he opened this year. Still, visitors would be wise to request the guided tour. Spade and Sperduti, who collaborated on concept shops like the J. Crew men’s Liquor Store and the Jack Spade and Kate Spade boutiques, kept the space, a former metalworks workshop, raw with concrete floors and brick walls and created simple displays that encourage customer interaction. Every drawer is meant to be opened; vitrines are left unlocked for easy access. Shoppers need to look in, up, and under the counters, as every place holds something to buy and the inventory is constantly changing. And that's not all, for the first three weekends in November, the back room, which serves as the partners’ office during the week, will transform into a confectionary kitchen, with the artist Will Cotton—known for his surreal candy landscapes—baking and selling party cakes and macarons in lemon, pistachio, pumpkin, salted caramel, lavender, and chocolate curry.
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