May 17, 2006

Collect Calling

Christopher 19 Design Collective

You. Always full of surprises. Always mixing it up. Layering lamé and brocade. Downloading slow jams and klezmer. Popping uppers and downers.

We get the idea. (Lay off the meds!)

As does Christopher 19 Design Collective, a new West Village home furnishings-jewelry-bags-and-accessories emporium. Around here, it’s not about what’s trendy. It’s about what has big personality.

Which means diverse pickings like M. Andonìa bags, Prime Gallery lamps, etched horn cuffs (you never knew you needed one) by Pono, and jewelry from Christopher Roca, Morra Designs, and Christina McCabe. (Unfamiliar names? Yeah, but not for long.)

What pulls it all together is the retro-meets-organic decor: Jewelry becomes centerpieces, ornate oriental mirrors hang next to barren tree branches, and 16th-century architectural prints of stone statues are laminated onto the floor.

The space strikes just the right balance between flashy and simple, familiar and fresh. Like somehow it fits together.

You get the idea.

Christopher 19 Design Collective, 19 Christopher Street, between Greenwich Avenue and Waverly Place (212-627-9159).