Come For the Artfully Curated Clothes. Stay For a Pottery Class
A 10-minute walk from tourist-choked Rockefeller Center and office drones toiling in sky-high glass pillars, there's an unassuming little stretch of New York life between 3rd Ave and 2nd. It's quite surreal, actually, this quiet patch of neighborhood mere minutes from the hustle and bustle of Midtown Manhattan.
There, tucked underneath some of 50th Street's ancient apartment buildings, there's a small staircase that curves into a humble wooden door. Behind it lays New York's coolest, youngest, and most unexpected menswear gem.
Earlier in 2025, Youchul Jeon chose this extremely unusual location to quietly open BASE, a supremely stylish clothing store nestled smack in the middle of a larger space that also hosts a café, pottery studio, tiny Japanese restaurant, and even tinier gallery.
But whereas most of the city's tenants pay top dollar to avoid being saddled with roommates, Jeon relishes the company.
"Fashion doesn’t exist in a vacuum anymore. It overlaps with art, music, food, and community," Jeon says. "So, when I had the chance to share [this space], it made perfect sense. We’re not separated into strict zones. Everything flows together. Someone might come here for tea, walk into a gallery show, end up discovering a brand they’ve never heard of, and finish the day having dinner. It’s that kind of space. BASE exists within a bigger rhythm."
Not so much the lockstep rhythm inherent to Manhattan's midsection, mind you. While the relentless sidewalk churn a few blocks away is pure cacophony, BASE plays an invitingly warm melody. Stretch out, stroll around, sip a coffee or scope some pottery cooling across from vacant kilns. Then, browse the coolest clothes within forty blocks.
No exaggeration! While much of Manhattan's retail scene is either clustered below 14th Street or relegated to 5th Avenue, BASE is basically the only game in town — Midtown, that is.
Even outside of Midtown, though, concept stores as singular and experiential as BASE are frustratingly rare even in a city as retail-famous as New York. That's partially because they live and die by the whims of the person who birthed them, and not anyone can curate a temple of taste. A true concept store needs a solid, well, concept. And Jeon landed on one fitting for BASE's neighborhood.
"Living in New York City, where the pace is fast and the streets are full of energy, made me realize how important it is to have clothes that are simple, practical, and modern, pieces you can wear every day and still feel confident in," he says. "I wanted BASE to be part of that conversation. Not to tell people how to dress, but to offer something that feels natural and relevant to life in this city."
Here you can uncover scrumptious wares from Aviva Jifei Xue, Ziggy Chen, and Taiga Takahashi, who shape artisanal workwear from rare fabrics and fine finishings. You can also find modern menswear designers like Omar Afridi, Studio Nicholson, and Sage Nation, rising stars (and all British, oddly enough) with a distinctive modular vision.
And you can also experience rare makers like Ranra, XLIM, and _J.L-A-L_, which blend the technical with the tangible.
On paper, disparate stuff. But Jeon's curatorial skill and steady hand shapes a surprisingly cohesion selection.
"What all of these brands have in common is a clear purpose," he explains. "The fabrics are right, the shapes make sense, and even small details, like pockets or stitching, are there for a reason. It’s not about trends or hype. It’s about making clothes that work, and that people want to live in. Just like the name suggests, BASE is about staying grounded. We’re here to offer something lasting and considered. Something that works, and makes sense in real life."
Put simply: "If you like good clothes and care about how things are made, you’ll probably find something here."
