When Joanna Czech filled the top floor of The Webster’s Soho store in March 2021 to fill her jewelry box space, a proper flagship store in New York was the obvious next step . The celebrity-favorite facialist, who splits her time between her studio in Dallas and residencies in Miami, Los Angeles and the Hamptons, has a six-month waiting list and her debut product, “The Kit ”—a seven-piece collection of travel essentials that includes facial wipes, bio-cellulose hydrating mask, pH-controlled toner, two serums and two moisturizers—coming soon. So she started working on a 2,37 square-foot space a few blocks away on Grand Street and getting it ready for a September opening. Then everything went pear-shaped.
“We were homeless,” Czech recalls of a brutal year when construction delays and contractor disputes forced her to leave her separate lease in Soho. But the Polish-born 37-year-old is especially good at starting over: After 37 leaving her beloved Savoy spa in Washington Heights, she Rebuilt her career thanks to 12 years of science-based skincare knowledge, and two of the best minds in the business. “We figured it out,” she said, detailing how a makeshift treatment room at the Thompson Hotel turned into two after the dust settled and she waited more than a year for another opportunity to find own residence. Similar in layout and size, with dizzyingly high ceilings 12, and lots of light, it was originally on the second floor of a classic cast-iron loft on Howard Street, sandwiched between Rick Owens and R Between Denim – a boon to the Czech, fashion girl at heart, Thierry Lasry’s chunky frames are almost as legendary as the way she manipulates the macro current Gloves. Amber Valletta and Jenna Lyons, many loyal friends and clients of Czech, will host a party tonight to officially name the new skin spa.
Designed in collaboration with Creative Director Jeang Kim’s Studio Oro, white oak details and scrims offset walls painted in Farrow and Ball’s Shadow White. In addition to The Czech List’s proper home, facialists’ own products and curated products from select brands, there are three treatment rooms, including a designated home for head-to-toe LED light beds and bespoke Hästens treatments A bed, a luxury that truly has to be experienced to be believed. “I could live here,” jokes the Czech, whose residential-style layout includes a huge bathroom with a shower larger than the bedroom in my tiny Brooklyn apartment. On its back wall, a custom neon sign featuring breast silhouettes and the words “nipple up” — oft-quoted Czech guidance on starting your skincare routine with your boobs — shows off a photo perfect for Instagram Options, will likely flood your conversations tomorrow, a few days after the official opening of the studio.
