Dagny & Barstow

Profile

College friends turned business partners Meredith Blank and Emily Titelman dreamt of opening their own boutique since spending a semester together in London. Impressed by the European designers and quirky prints they were seeing in the U.K., five years after moving to New York, the two opened this boutique in the Bowery, sandwiched between two restaurant-supply stores. Reflecting the gritty and artsy history of the neighborhood, the store offers an offbeat mix of art and fashion. Bowties discreetly say �fuck you� to discriminating eyes while prints from ArtStar.com hang from the walls. The store’s inventory consists of both European and local designers. Blank and Titelman scour smaller showcases for exclusive gems like the clothing line Devastee, whose eccentric black-and-white prints contrast brilliantly with artist Sarah Applebaum’s green felt gun on the counter. — Jessica Chou