Interiors: Phare trading

When British ex-model Jane Mayle met US ex-model Chris Jarvis in New York, it was love at first sight. They set up shop together and Manhattanites soon fell in love with their magpie aesthetic. The `personalised boutique' was born. Mallery Lane visits them at home. Photographs by Martin Morrell

Of course Jane Mayle and Chris Jarvis win the Best Looking Shopkeepers award hands down. But they can also be credited with helping to create the trend that's now sweeping through New York - personalised boutiques which evoke the spirit of the owner, a careful edit of clothes and objects which say as much about the proprietor as the client they hope to entice.

Phare, Mayle's and Jarvis' Manhattan store, is a tiny space on Elizabeth Street in the heart of the newly trendy neighbourhood just east of SoHo, known as "Nolita" (north of little Italy). The antithesis of the superstores and mall-like ambience of SoHo (quickly becoming like London's Covent Garden), this traditionally Italian neighbourhood has in recent years been

transformed as the old immigrant families have disappeared and young, entrepreneurial creatives, such as Mayle and Jarvis, have discovered the small, low-rent, street-level retail spaces, ideal for commercial yet artsy endeavours.

When passers-by spot Phare, which opened in March, and catch a glimpse of a shop window adorned with, say, a "Sicilian weekend theme" - a bowl of blood oranges, a vintage Gucci bag, a man's tailored shirt in the best shade of pink, a handbag made of antique Kimono fabric, dogwood branches in bloom - they hesitate to enter what appears at first to be a very intimate universe. The vision of two lanky, gorgeous silhouettes hovering inside only adds to the intrigue - and trepidation.

"The concept behind Phare is very simple, very personal," explains Mayle, 27, whose accent remains impeccably British despite technically growing up in America. "I was born in England but moved to Florida at the age of 10," she explains. "Each year, just as I was perfecting my American twang, summer holiday in England with my father would arrive. Without fail I'd return completely British all over again." After high school Mayle began studies in literature - probably taking a cue from father Peter Mayle of A Year In Provence fame - which she interrupted for two years to model in Milan and Paris.

Eventually returning to New York to complete a degree at Columbia university, she simultaneously began working for friends in the fashion business: Marie Anne Oudejans who created the fashion label Tocca (famous for its little dresses so adored by the supermodels) and the jewellery designer Tom Binns.

When she met Chris Jarvis (also 27) 14 months ago in New York, he was winding down a successful six-year career in modelling. They agreed it was the perfect moment to "be creative and try to make money doing something together we can hopefully love as much as each other." Phare was born.

Jarvis, a Seattle native, designs the store's menswear collection. His American north-west roots, combined with his modelling experience for designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Romeo Gigli, has given him an eye for a casual, elegant chic.

"The exposure that I had to master tailoring convinced me that clothes can be incredibly elegant and yet remarkably simple," he says. "But my Seattle roots are about youth culture, not being too neat - that `just had sex and rolled out of bed' look. What I design for the store is how I like to dress. Chic, simple, easy basics that take you five minutes to throw on in the morning."

Whereas Jarvis is more the dreamer who likes to concentrate on the big picture, Mayle is the ultimate perfectionist, not only designing the women's collection but scouring the flea markets for the vintage clothes and magical objects she deems an important part of the store's concept.

"I try to fill the shop with things that I love, which are equal parts sense and sensibility, the best basics and lots of interesting accessories. To me, a great basic must be of excellent quality, but give the feeling of something comfortable, worn in," explains Mayle. "It is about owning up to the fact that you enjoy how you dress but not being too precious about it.

"Most pieces are of our design but in addition to the things we collect at flea markets we also sell the creations of others, usually friends. We like to think everything is interrelated, all part of the same narrative. Phare is not just about making clothes, it is about things you can really fall in love with."

"I think that when people walk into the shop and say they feel it is like an extension of our home it is because of the concentration we put into detail. Both in the clothes and objects we offer and the environment that surrounds us. A lovely atmosphere - both at home and work - is important to us. When you have the opportunity to control your environment why not make the best out of what you have?"

Home is on the fifth floor of an old 1840s brownstone in the West Village. It's a bit like a tree house with treetops for a view ("There's no elevator, so moving in was a nightmare"). The airy two-bedroom flat is like the shop - full of things Mayle and Jarvis have collected and love. It is sparsely furnished - "partly because if I don't have the budget for just the right thing I'd rather go without," says Mayle, and partly because the flat's charm and atmosphere come from a touching attention to detail, whether it's a decision to leave a space blank or clutter it up. "The way Jane sees things and puts them together is magical," says Jarvis. "There is always a story involved. For a man, home is often more about function. I personally prefer simple, sparse spaces - but I admire and take pleasure in Jane's aesthetic, too. I think that our home reflects both our tastes."

"For me it is about paring things down to the things that really matter," explains Mayle. "I guess if I have a sense of style it is because I'm a visual magpie - I've seen so many Italian and French films! Also growing up in both the US and UK, I always felt like I was observing from the outside. Even when I was modelling I still had one foot in school. I have never been completely immersed in one thing."

Mayle's studies in literature have come out on the sheets - the duvet cover is scribbled with a poem by Rimbaud. "A beautiful sentence is like a beautiful object," says Mayle. "I have to have it or read it over and over again. My father hates reading a book after me because he says it looks like an overzealous squirrel has been going through it - every page earmarked, underlined. I guess I approach reading and language like I approach doing the house or the shop - a great deal of love goes into it."

The bookshelves not only hold carefully arranged, beautiful tomes but also images, objects, postcards, memories. The whole works like a wall of paintings or sculpture. "I can't understand people not doing this in their own homes," says Mayle. "It gives me such pleasure to have that creation feeding me back."

Delicate yet not too precious "still life" arrangements create scenarios on shelves, corners of floors, walls. A postcard from Cuba stands next to a shell lying on a mirror beside a candle from Mexico. Colour, texture, shape - intuitive arrangements telling a story, setting a mood. "I believe things with emotional resonance will bring a certain meaning to my life. They hint at stories yet to come." Once something doesn't "resonate" any more it is given away or simply thrown out.

"Even if I had lots of money and time to go around the world collecting things, I think my environment would always remain somewhat minimal. If an object is rich - in its texture, design, colour - in order for it to mean something it really needs to have a certain amount of space around it. But I do dream of a certain opulence and would one day like to have, say, a dark-green velvet chaise longue or weathered turquoise urns with orange trees on a huge terrace."

It's not all fancy stuff. Pride of place in Mayle's simple white bathroom is given to a scarlet toothbrush with shocking pink bristles - it cost 25 cents in Chinatown, Mayle tells me. Collages are another fascination. Images, mostly torn from magazines, letters, postcards, fill slices of walls. "I have no shame going through rubbish bins!" laughs Mayle. "Finding interesting things is like finding an old friend. I've always loved things that you know will never be found again.

"It's the same thing in the shop, it's our vision," continues Mayle. "A set of values, priorities, ideals that translate into little camisoles, still lifes, bookshelves, dresses, whatever. We are not saying this is the best - but we are thrilled if people like it because we couldn't do it any other way"

Phare is at 252 Elizabeth Street, NY NY 10012, enquiries 00 1 212 343 7206.