Is it possible to fall in love with a store? Like, to love it so much you’d actually marry it, if you could? Reformation, open as of May on the Lower East Side, is a store many girls will want to take as a bride. The brainchild of YAYA designer Yael Aflalo and her former designer Chi Bui, Reformation specializes in remade vintage—a concept that’s been around for a while, but not quite like this. Aflalo and Bui are, for the most part, thrift-shopping for fabrics: deadstock textiles, leftovers from designers’ collections, naff old looks in a great material. Then, in essence, they start from scratch, re-patterning and sewing up stuff that’s bang-on trend and looks like it should cost a lot more than it does. Think leather-paneled bike shorts, bias-cut silk tanks, strong-shouldered lace minidresses. Aflalo works out of the back of the Ludlow Street storefront; Bui out of the Reformation boutique that opened in Los Angeles this past September. Most pieces come in multiple sizes and the store will alter anything that doesn’t quite fit. In short: Marry me. “For me, it’s a green thing,” Aflalo explains of her inspiration in launching the new brand. “There’s so much stuff out there already, why buy anything new? Some pieces we find, the look is kind of there. Other times, we’re starting from zero. What I like,” she adds, “is being able to make pieces I want to wear right now. Nothing too complex, just the kind of thing you’re always going to have room for in your wardrobe.” I do.

tags: Chi Bui, Reformation