When Sam and Libby Edelman set out to find a new home for their growing company, the CFDA Members looked at several spaces but none had the charm of their previous digs at West 57th Street. Enter the new headquarters: high above Avenue of the Americas, the full floor, at the 26,000 square feet, provided the husband-and-wife duo with ample space to play with.
Working with acclaimed architectural firm Gensler, the essence of the design perfectly embodies the ethos of the brand, the corporate culture and the Edelmans themselves. Family, equestrian touches and a sense of heritage and craft are at the core of the interior design. Industrial elements such as reclaimed wood, exposed ceilings and dark metal hardware beautifully work into the interior.
“I thought, ‘Wow I have this beautiful place and this big responsibility now, and have to be careful how I design it,’” Sam Edelman recalled on a recent walkthrough. “So I hired Gensler, a wonderful, great name in architecture. We met with the team at Gensler and really liked each other.”
Libby Edelman added: “It’s the first place where we said, ‘We could move here.’ Creativity doesn’t flourish as well in cramped spaces. We think bringing in all our personal things adds a lot to the creativity.”
Stepping off the elevator, one finds a ceiling featuring recycled wood beams suspended by cables—a clear nod to barns. The design is deliberately asymmetrical to make a point about the brand. “Sam Edelman is fun and whimsical,” Sam Edelman said. “It has this wonderful feeling of breaking rules. The suspended ceiling looks like a barn ceiling and has movement.
“I believe in a certain level of irreverence,” he added. “I believe something spiritual that is much bigger than all of us. I believe in breaking the rules. I believe in movement—which to me means that maybe I thought one thing yesterday but maybe I will change it again tomorrow.”
Step inside, and every detail can be traced back to the Edelmans. The furniture is curated from the couple’s private collection including a pair of chic chairs by Dakota Jackson, recovered with Edelman Leather, as well as finds from flea markets and consignment shops. Books favored by the Edelmans fill shelves.
The wall displays photography by Libby Edelman, which changes it every season. On this occasion, it is a powerful series of lost glove photographs.
“Everything has history and personalization,” said Sam Edelman. “That’s the fun of it. A table was a gift from our art director Sam Shahid. Sam and Libby and I go back together 35 years to when Libby and Sam worked together at Calvin Klein.”
Other highlights include an “E” sculpture Sam Edelman found and acquired from Mantiques Modern on West 22nd Street (after some negotiation) and a striking table that is the centerpiece in the state-of-the-art conference room. “It took me three months to find the tree [for the wood tabletop],” Sam Edelman said. “It’s 16 feet long but when I got to the building, we couldn’t get it up on one piece, so we had to cut it in two. If I’d been here I would have carried it up myself.”
The overall feeling is modern yet warm and inviting, which is just how the Edelmans like it.
“The team of people is young, loving and warm and that’s the spirit we like to evoke in our environment,” Sam Edelman added. “We have about 90 people working here, and of them, a third are direct family; neighbors’ children, best friends’ kids or the sons and daughters of CEOs of stores across the country.”
And with the extra space, there is more room for employee interaction, which bodes well for the corporate culture. The Edelmans also discourage employees to lunch at their desks, instead preferring everyone to gather in the kitchen area. “It’s a great way for people to meet other people and spend more time together than they normally would in their workday,” Libby Edelman said. “It’s a rule; obviously some people break them. Rules can be broken, especially in fashion and creativity.”
And such is the irreverent spirit of the brand. “I think the thing about our company is it comes from the heart,” Sam Edelman said. “Has the new home changed the spirit of the company? No. The beautiful space is a testament to our conviction.”
