The:LAB (CLOSED)

In 2005, Greg Lawrance and Luis Fernandez’s quest for the perfect T-shirt resulted in their launching a tee company, 429, and culminated two years later when they debuted Number:Lab, the pair’s evolution to a full men’s line of tech sportswear. The dapper duo has since sold its threads at stores in Japan, Dubai and Russia, and it can add New York to that list with Number:Lab’s first independent storefront. Step inside the illuminated, minimalist space and you’ll spot blueprint drawings on the left wall, a nod to Fernandez’s background in architecture. A toy airplane on a shelf to the right pays homage to the U.S. Air Force Academy, which inspired the fall 2011 line. The streamlined collection ($40–$675)—a cross between alpine-skiing gear and fine tailoring—has every guy’s casual-cool staples from cotton canvas pants ($168) to long-sleeved tees ($62). For more sophisticated wares, sift through the white pipe racks and square shelves for wool athletic blazers ($204) and cozy Fair Isle sweaters incorporating the label’s signature cobalt hue.