MVK, a gender-neutral, super creative nail salon out of Ukraine, has opened its first US studio on Reade. Their first day was June 20; thanks to C. for the heads up.

This is not your average nail salon. The company has studios in Kyiv, Kraków, Warsaw, Vienna, Berlin, Barcelona and now here — “where Ukrainian craft meets the creative pulse of one of the world’s most iconic cities,” they wrote on their Instagram announcement. The business was founded in 2013 in Kiev by Viktoria Kolodiy; it is now a franchise, though this location is owned by the company.

They offer an upgrade on the “short, immaculately groomed milky nude nail,” aka the “virgin manicure,” according to British Vogue — meaning the nails are short, simple and with a graphic twist: white with a tiny black heart; grey wool with tiny diamond studs embedded in the fuzz — as well as hyper-long nails, the original virgin manicure, and nails painted to look like marble.

“We are ambassadors of virginity, simplicity and purity, and the majority of our MVK clients choose to have a virgin manicure as the effect is hypnotic. It’s hard to explain how it works but it just does,” Kolodiy told British Vogue in a feature. Vogue added: “There is something strangely satisfying about these mini mani masterpieces. So popular has MVK’s work become with clients, the salon now employs 60 nail technicians [in Kiev] to create the distinct designs that are being replicated around the globe.”

A manicure is $60 and a simple design is an additional $5.

The opening on June 17 was a scene — stylists, photographers, models, poems read aloud, a DJ set — and jelly cocktails.

MVK
69 Reade | Church & Broadway
Seven days, 9a to 9p
646-980-5758
Book here