Shari Markbreiter, a 45-year-old New York interior designer, is no stranger to luxury shopping. She seeks a wardrobe that signals to her clients that she has great taste. But she doesn't want to buy her clothes from one of the big, heavily logoed fashion brands. "To me, logos speak more of mass merchandising," she says. When Ms. Markbreiter bought an Oscar de la Renta handbag recently, she removed the logo tag.
Even as luxury fashion labels expand all over the world, pitching their brands to a broader audience, Ms. Markbreiter is part of a coterie of shoppers who are moving away from recognizable labels in search of something else. These women want exquisitely made but subtle clothing and accessories that don't shout "fashion."
In New York, some of these women are gravitating to the small, three-year-old Yuta Powell Salon. Hidden in a pair of suites on the third floor of the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, the salon takes understatement to the extreme: It has no sign on the street, which virtually eliminates foot traffic. Clients tend to be loyalists, referred by word of mouth, and they usually call before stopping by.
Ms. Powell, who once ran Givenchy and Carolina Herrera shops in New York, doesn't see eye to eye with Big Fashion today. "This is style, not fashion," she says, glancing around her tiny boutique, which consists of two cozy rooms and several racks of suits, dresses, gowns and accessories. A couch is positioned for clients to rest with a cup of tea or glass of champagne.
Client Shari Markbreiter studies the designs at the Yuta Powell Salon
