Collection I — Meet Me Uptown

“Meet me uptown.”
A phrase often exchanged between Ariel and her longtime collaborator Kaia — part invitation, part affirmation. It became the quiet anthem of their early days building Atelier Arielle: a nod to friendship, artistry, and a shared belief that something beautiful could take root in the city they both called home.

This first collection is a love letter to New York — not the glossy, cinematic version, but the real one. The one filled with too-small apartments, wide sidewalks after rain, fire escapes, corner bodegas, and women who know how to make magic out of chaos. Every piece in Meet Me Uptown carries the fingerprints of those who inspired it: friends who modeled with heart, idols who lit the creative path, and the quiet, enduring kind of love that anchors it all.

For Ariel, born in China and building a dream in Manhattan, this collection is also about staying. Staying in the work when it's hard. Staying for love when it's complicated. Staying true to the version of femininity that doesn’t shy away from strength, even when wrapped in silk and lace.

Fittingly, the debut of Meet Me Uptown was held at Aradar Gallery — the swanky Upper East Side art gallery and auction house belonging to a dear friend and her family. The setting, with its gilded frames and storied walls, brought the collection full circle: a meeting point between downtown grit and uptown grace. In that space, surrounded by art and old friends, the collection lived exactly as it was meant to.. personal, a little glamorous, and rooted in love.

At the heart of the collection is Rococo Flute — the very first gown Ariel made for Atelier Arielle, and the dress she wore to her own wedding on a rainy April first in New York. It’s named after a vinyl her now-husband gifted her years ago in Los Angeles, during a moment of misunderstanding that reminded them how love often asks for humility, grace, and a willingness to meet each other halfway. That record — simple and sentimental — became a symbol of the tenderness that lives within even the imperfect parts of love. Rococo Flute is a reminder that romance isn’t always polished. Sometimes it lives in the rain, in the quiet reconciliations, and in the choice to stay. A true beginning — just like this collection.