From the street, the SoHo building looks like a cross between a fairy tale castle and a medieval church preserved behind glass. Mosaic-covered spires rise above a Gothic wood and iron gate. Only the loosely scripted signature ''Susanne Bartsch'' on the glass window indicates that the facade might be the entrance to a retail shop.

The unusual space is a recently opened clothing store at 456A West Broadway, between Houston and Prince Streets. It was designed by Michael Kostiff, a young English photographer and film maker, for Susanne Bartsch - an innovative retailer of avant-garde English fashion who is known around town as the ''Swiss Miss.'' ...