The genius behind Claudine happens to be 33-year-old Korean-American Kyung Lee, who also owns a sister store (an older one, at that) by the name of Albertine just down the block. So what's with the cool store names ending in "ine"? "Albertine and Claudine are the names of the sisters from one of my favorite films, Bonjour Tristesse by Otto Preminger," says Lee. As for opening a shop in the West Village, Lee says, "I was looking around for a while for the perfect location and Christopher Street just popped up on me - there weren't many retail shops when I went in, which really appealed to me." Lee also liked the idea that Claudine is located inside a landmark building, giving off a chill Euro vibe.