Fashion 26 – a Wyndham Hotel has made its stylish debut in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood near the Fashion District. Peter Poon Architects conceived the 22-story glass and steel tower that houses 280 guestrooms, while designer Glen Coben took inspiration from the Fashion District’s history for the hotel’s look and style. For instance, Coben’s custom-designed wooden reception desk in the hotel’s lobby was modeled after a fashion studio cutting-room table, with iron legs common to old-fashioned sewing tables.
Guest corridors throughout the hotel will be the setting for a rotating art program, featuring contest-winning photography created by students at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Setting the stage for the hotel’s exhibits, the hotel’s own After Mondrian (Fashion 26) display by installation artist Devorah Sperber is crafted from colorful spools of thread in homage to Piet Mondrian’s paintings of the city.
Meanwhile, Fashion 26’s main F&B concept is RARE Bar and Grill, which includes the RARE View rooftop bar and lounge. At the restaurant, a grand staircase leads diners down to the 200-seat dining room from the main floor of the hotel, where a chandelier made of "RARE" insignia branding irons hangs. Playing off the image of a grill, the room boasts bright orange, red, and flame motifs on the side walls, tall thin stainless light fixtures shooting up from the curved banquettes, and on the main wall gigantic photographic images loom large featuring grilling paraphernalia that illuminate when the lights go up. All the way to the side of the room is a massive black steel structure crafted to look like a gigantic piece of charcoal. Other amenities include meeting space, business center, and a 24-hour fitness facility.
