There’s a lot of leftover loveliness in the Garment District—the wide swatch of Midtown Manhattan west of Fifth Avenue between roughly 41st and 28th Streets.
In the early 1900s, the showrooms and factories here made the vast majority of women’s clothes in the United States. These days, the remaining garment-related producers share dingy side streets with ghostly faded ads and signage from long-departed companies.
But things are still looking bright at the Fashion Tower, at 135 West 36th Street. High above the freight entrance of this circa-1922, 17-story Emery Roth–designed building, two terra cotta painted peacocks sitting in the swirly leaves of a tree greet passersby.
Why peacocks? With their beautiful colors and plumage, these gorgeous birds are symbols of fashion—as well as power, strength, and confidence.
Tags: Fashion Tower 36th Street, Fashion Tower Peacocks, garment district NYC, Garment District Peacocks NYC, Peacock Images Garment District Building
Ephemeral New York 
February 6, 2023 at 5:42 am |
Emery is spelled incorrectly. I learned that when the building was recently restored, these are replicas.
February 6, 2023 at 7:53 am |
Esther . . .
A splendid find. Perhaps in fact those peacocks are the ones that were recently exiled from the grounds of the St. John the Divine. But please . . . the architect is Emery Roth, with an “e” not an “o.”
February 6, 2023 at 10:19 am |
Ugh, apologies for misspelling the name of the man who designed the building I currently live in! I should have caught that, it’s fixed.
February 6, 2023 at 7:58 am |
These peacocks are wonderful, very evocative of the ’20’s. And the stone carvings and veneer are pretty darn nice, too.
February 7, 2023 at 12:41 am |
I agree. I’d have thought such splendid stone carvings would be in a residence, but alas, they’re in a commercial building.
February 6, 2023 at 11:33 am |
from 2010 fwiw https://at.tumblr.com/leastlikelyname/708523862748430337/woial2u1l01i
February 6, 2023 at 10:11 pm |
What could be a better symbol of fashion than a peacock?
Although the peacocks and the door frame may not be, technically, Art Deco, they are in spirit: The peacocks’ plumage remind me of the kinds of shapes and colors you might find in an Art Deco structure–or a Guimard Metro station entrance in Paris.
February 7, 2023 at 12:43 am |
That’s a great observation, VV. I wasn’t thinking of them as Art Deco—just playful symbols of style and fashion. But the carvings are obviously inspired by the natural world.
February 6, 2023 at 10:19 pm |
Wide swatch, I get it
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February 15, 2023 at 7:40 am |
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