A Most Beautiful Discovery
When luxury feels personal
Is it just me, or has the AI slop that has infiltrated our world in 2025 elevated the power of beautiful humanity when it manages to shine through the grey concrete cracks?
I had such an experience recently when I met a fashion designer at a holiday event for Jessica McCormack, who as anyone who follow me knows, is the most delicious jewelry designer ever, and has now opened a Madison Avenue boutique with her very personal dedication to craftsmanship and a very real understanding of how women enjoy wearing diamonds and gold (everyday, thank you very much.)
The woman I met was Alicia Yates, and she was breezing past me in Jessica’s Madison Avenue townhouse dressed in the most luscious leather coat that I had to stop her and ask her what she was wearing - and lo and behold, it was her own design.
Thus began my fascination with her Tribeca studio Thank You Have a Good Day and its creations, sewed by hand by Gary, her husband, and designed by them both.
Alicia Yates and Gary Smith outside their Vestry St. atelier in NYC
“Our atelier is a creative space where we work and play, host and visit, touch and try on. We create collections once per month, of both one of a kind and limited edition pieces, using exclusively existing textiles; antique and vintage, as well as carefully sourced end of roll and deadstock fabrics. Our mission is to create as thoughtfully and sustainably as we can.” - Alicia Yates
Alicia and I exchanged numbers, texted, I made an appointment. I ventured there on a raw, rainy cold December day and was greeted with this experience that is entirely opposite of what one receives at today’s luxury boutiques. Gary and Alicia had just adopted a stray cat who was also luxuriating on their sofa, adding to the sense of humanity on that cold day. It struck me that the sense of warmth I felt has been a bit lacking in luxury fashion as brands have expanded and franchised so quickly in the last few decades.
This is how they prefer to sell: by appointment at their Tribeca loft, and they begin by welcoming you with warm hospitality and listening to what you want, then pulling pieces that you would never think to try. Gary explains the principles of French seams and other techniques that make the pieces so lovely in their sense of “finished”-ness and details.
Some of their collections are sold at retail and they create capsule collections for Net-a-Porter. They’re at the stage of growth (not yet 10 years in) where their principle of making one-of-a-kind pieces has them working around the clock.
Alicia’s career has included stints at Céline and Isabel Marant among other designers which give the atelier’s style a decided sense of French fashion confidence, but it’s the whimsy and boldness that make the looks show-stopping.
“There hasn’t been a lot of newness (in luxury) in a long time. And almost every multibrand retailer sells the same brands in a very similar assortment and I think we’re at a point where clients are really looking for something new and thoughtful and unique.” - Alicia Yates
With all of Alicia’s connections to the top luxury houses, the studio has access to deadstock that becomes available to them in waves, and they take on the creative challenge of transforming it into one-of-a-kind outerwear, blouses, trousers, and dresses.
Their pieces don’t feature logos but they are also maximalist - no quiet luxury here. The styles are all a bit oversized, with bold buttons and lush fabrics and surprising combinations.
Alicia also does some private styling and shared that amongst her clients, there is a desire to keep secrets when it comes to luxury today when they come across true rarity because it’s so hard to find.
I tried on a dozen pieces and fell in love with them all, even though I personally have always gone for a more fitted look. Oversized feels luxurious to me now, or at least mixing in some roomy dynamics.
Alicia showed me a pair of amazing matte jersey trousers which I was very drawn to but in the end went for the leather trousers that I had seen on Alicia at Jessica McCormack’s. They arrived via Fedex days later in the most adorable hand-sewn bag that Alicia insisted I have as part of the purchase.
This meeting and discovery have been sort of an epiphany for me that it may be harder to find the soul in luxury today. But that’s what I want to search for in our work, and we hear it constantly in our cultivated communities of luxury buyers.
So in this holiday season filled with treasure-hunting, I encourage you to dig deeper, ask for personal recommendations and talk to strangers who are wearing beautiful things.
LookLook is a boutique NYC-based insights firm specialized in facilitating intimate conversations with luxury buyers for luxury brands.
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