Storm Ritter Studio
14 West 8th Street, NYC | 2015 - 2020
Painted from ceiling to floor, the brick-and-mortar storefront shop featured original apparel, artwork, and vintage. Everything sold was one-of-a-kind and originally created on-location. The shop hosted monthly parties, sale events, live music shows, in-house DJ hosts, and video/photo productions. Storm provided fashion and wall art, while offering styling pulls and custom orders. She also prioritized collaborating with other businesses on 8th street, reinforcing the hashtag, #MadeOn8thStreet.
Originally, the space was the home of Gertrude Vanderbilt, so Storm emphasized carrying forth the zealous energy. When she first opened, the shop was called, Graey Studio, but was quickly renamed to Storm Ritter Studio. Celebs from Usher to Miley Cyrus came through, as well as a glitterati of cool people on the streets from Bono to Snoop Dogg. Customers always had an 'experience' at SRS, not forgetting to spend some time the our well-dressed, studio cat Velvet. Upstairs, Storm worked with her talented seamstress in designing & manufacturing garments. If she wasn't managing the floor, she was painting custom clothing and canvas. Storm's staff of employees and interns were incredible contributors in showcasing a House of Cool. The studio was bubbling over with spontaneous fun –– never a day without a polaroid shot or record spun. The team set up pop-ups, including community painting events with kids of all ages.
At the end of 2018, Storm decided to move to a private studio in the West Village with plans to re-open a new studio in the Lower East Side. At the private studio, a couple employees and interns continued their creative work, as Storm hosted private shopping experiences, catered to special orders, and launched e-commerce. By February 2020, Storm had plans to open, but due to pandemic, continued Storm Ritter Studio at the private studio, focusing on face mask production with original textiles for donation and sales.
Since 2021, Storm Ritter Studio has evolved into Storm Ritter, Inc. in the West Village with full focus on fine art for gallery, custom apparel, styling pulls, and expanded e-commerce collections.