It’s been nearly two decades since Thom Browne opened a store in his hometown of New York. That’s about to change Wednesday when the designer officially debuts not one, but two new boutiques on the Upper East Side.

The first is a 1,700-square-foot unit located at 19 East 72nd Street that features the full expression of the brand’s men’s and women’s ready-to-wear and accessories. Around the corner at 898 Madison Avenue is the company’s first accessories-only store, a 900-square-foot space dedicated exclusively to leather goods, footwear, eyewear and fragrances.

These stores join the Thom Browne unit at 100 Hudson Street in TriBeCa, which opened in 2006.

“TriBeCa is really the worldwide flagship,” Browne said in an exclusive walk-through of the stores on Tuesday. “It’s my home. But I’ve had so many conversations over coffee at Sant Ambroeus [on Madison Avenue at 77th Street] that it was time for me to have a location here because so many people were anxious to have a store in their neighborhood.”

He obliged.

Browne said the space on 72nd Street is located in “one of the most special buildings in New York,” so when the space became available, he jumped at the chance. The 17-story, 40-unit limestone-faced Art Moderne-style cooperative building was built in 1936-37 and is considered to be one of the most beautiful buildings in Manhattan.

Being able to snag a space right around the corner for his first accessories-only store was a bonus.

Browne designed the interiors of both stores based on the original Four Seasons restaurant in New York, one of his all-time favorite restaurants that was designed by legendary architect Philip Johnson. “It’s based on something very personal,” he said.

While the original design is centered around terrazzo and gray marble, the new aesthetic, while similar, is softer and uses travertine instead. “It’s an adaptation of the Four Seasons, but it still feels like what it’s been for the last 25 years,” he said of the design.

The furniture as well as the merchandise mix were also chosen specifically to appeal to the New York City customer.

“Twenty or so of our 119 stores are true flagships and the product is curated to be very special to the neighborhood,” Browne said. “So on Melrose [in Los Angeles], you’ll see a more weather-appropriate assortment. Same thing with Miami or the Ginza in Tokyo. Everybody travels, so it’s nice that you can go into this store and see something different than you would see on Melrose or in Palm Beach.”

The new ready-to-wear store is also large enough to allow Browne to display the menswear and womenswear together. “As women’s has grown, it’s nice to be able to have both in the same store,” he said. “The collections really complement each other because I design them at the same time. And I do consciously think of them in the same store at the same time, so you see the synergy between the two collections.”

The store is opening with pieces from both the summer collection as well as a few from fall 2025, along with an assortment of childrenswear.

In addition to the collections, the ready-to-wear store carries an assortment of accessories, many of which are displayed on an accessory wall.

“The stores have evolved to be more functional,” Browne said. “At the beginning, I wanted you to walk into a space that didn’t really feel like a retail space. Over the years, with the business growing, it was important that they evolve to really be able to house and showcase the different parts of the collection.”

Although some of the offerings overlap, the new accessories store concept features a full range of bags, from purses to briefcases, as well as an assortment of the Mr. and Mrs. Thom bags, which are displayed as art objects in the gallery-like space. The store also features a wide range of Hector bags, including a baguette style in pebble grain leather and a navy tweed and a pearl-studded version.

Hector is Browne’s dachshund and the muse behind his dog-shaped bags.

Other animal bags in the shape of foxes, sheep, pigs and bears are also offered in the store.

“We actually have 20 animals that travel around the world,” Browne said. “We’ve had made-to-order events with the animals ever since our Noah’s Ark show in 2020. There are 20 different colors you can get, so it’s special.”

Footwear is also a key part of the mix, from heritage trainers and dressy brogues to wingtip pumps for both men and women.

“This is the first time I’ve ever concentrated an entire store on accessories,” Browne said. “We’re not the first to have a focus on accessories to grow the business, but accessories have become so important to us, really focused around the Mr. and Mrs. Thom bags and the new softer versions of those bags. The collections are evolving and growing enough to warrant a store.”

While separated by a few feet, the accessories store is being viewed as an adjunct of the larger ready-to-wear unit. In fact, behind a door in the smaller unit are several fitting rooms where staff can bring clothes from the 72nd Street unit for customers seeking to add a bag or shoes to their wardrobe to complete the look.

Browne said to expect more accessories-specific stores in the future as the brand continue to expand.

“I think you’re going to see the stores evolve in general,” he said. Rather than just focus on the brand’s signature tailored clothing, the emphasis going forward is to highlight other popular categories such as shirts and knitwear.

“Shirts have become really important along with knits,” he said. “And they’re just easier to buy than a tailored jacket. Sure, it all starts with the collection, but how you experience the collections and the product in the store you’ll see evolving in the way that the collections have evolved. There’s a lot more to buy in the stores.”

In addition to made-to-order animal bags, the brand offers made-to-measure knitwear in a range of colors as well as tailored clothing for men and women. “Made-to-order tailoring has become a significant part of the business, which is good for me because it’s where it all started,” he said. “It’s nice to know that people still appreciate it.”

The stores also allow customers to experience a different side of Thom Browne. “I think that’s something that a lot of people don’t really understand until they come into the stores,” he said. “People see my shows, and they think: ‘Oh, Thom, does concept,’ but in reality, when you come to the stores, there’s just really good, beautifully made classic clothes to buy. So you can get the conceptual ideas, but you can also get a really amazing poplin shirt, or a basketball jersey in cashmere mesh — really classic ideas done in really special ways.”

This is one of the reasons that the company has been putting more emphasis on its direct-to-consumer business and cutting back on wholesale. In reporting its first-quarter results in April, Ermenegildo Zegna Group, majority owner of Thom Browne, reported that revenues fell 18.9 percent to 64.2 million euros as the brand continued to streamline its wholesale channel. For the year, wholesale sales are expected to be down 25 to 30 percent.

However, the company’s direct-to-consumer sales were up 3.5 percent to 46.3 million euros, boosted by store openings as well as double-digit growth in Japan and South Korea.

Browne said focusing more on DTC just makes sense for the brand. “The experience is so much better when we get to control it ourselves,” he said. “What I do is so specific that people need us to really tell the story. And I think we tell the story better than anybody: that we started some 20-odd years ago with a gray suit and it’s evolved over the years into so much more.”

To celebrate the two new stores, the company will host a cocktail party Wednesday night where guests can not only experience the stores themselves, but also check out the topiary version of Hector that the designer created for the outside of the 72nd Street store.

“It’s the 10th anniversary of Hector,” he said with a smile. “What started as a folly with the first Hector bag has grown into a really important business.”