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Discussion in 'Art & Design' started by Acid, Jun 6, 2004.
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Dries van Noten - Los Angeles
Luxury fashion label Dries Van Noten has opened its first US store in Los Angeles, which boasts interiors filled with artworks from creatives across the globe.
Dries Van Noten's LA store takes over two buildings that sit on a huge parking lot along La Cienega Boulevard. The first building is a two-floor property that has been dubbed Big House, the second, called Little House, is a 1950s-era bungalow completely shrouded by ivy.
Together the buildings measure 8,500 square feet (790 square meters), making this the Belgian fashion brand's largest retail space to date.
Clothing collections are presented inside Big House, with womenswear on the ground floor and menswear up on the first floor.
The brand's in-house design team took charge of the interiors – founder Dries van Noten, who was stuck outside the US due to coronavirus travel restrictions, would "visit" the space every evening via FaceTime calls with staff members.
Simple white-painted walls and concrete flooring appears throughout. A few elements in the store, like the accessory display plinths and chesterfield-style sofas, are a sunny shade of yellow – a colour deemed synonymous with Dries Van Noten's brand identity.
Decor is provided by striking artworks from a roster of local and international creatives. Some pieces, such as the mixed-media collages by LA-based artist Jan Gatewood, have been executed directly on the store's walls as murals.
"I didn't want to have that gallery feeling where everything is mercantile…it's more like graffiti," Van Noten explained.
"While showcasing the Dries Van Noten collections this place will be a haven for creative encounters and gathering experiences that embraces the creative pulse of Los Angeles and its creative and fashion community" added the brand explained in a statement.
"These experiences can be as light-hearted as they can be profound, yet they will always be welcoming to all and informal."
Sculptural furnishings by Rotterdam-based designer Johan Viladrich are also on display, as well as busts of tattooed human heads by Czech artist Richard Stipl.
Big House additionally includes archive rooms which are haphazardly plastered with old catwalk and campaign imagery of Dries Van Noten designs.
Here customers are able to purchase pieces from past collections – some of which date back to the 1990s – and once health and safety restrictions have been lifted post-pandemic, re-sell garments from the brand that they no longer want.
"It's not only about sustainability reasons, but it's the whole idea that a beautiful garment stays beautiful even if other people have been wearing it – and I like the idea that you have new clothes and old clothes all together in the same store," added Van Noten.
To access Little House, shoppers must walk past a series of plant beds overspilling with tropical foliage, which were included in homage to Van Noten's passion for gardening and the brand's frequent use of botanical prints.
The bungalow acts as an exhibition space which, going forward, will showcase different furniture, textiles, ceramics and photography from both established and emerging creatives.
Currently on display is a collection of porcelain tableware created by Van Noten's longtime friend, fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester, and Belgian brand Serax.
Dries Van Noten's Los Angeles store joins branches in Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Paris and a flagship in Antwerp – but the brand's founder already has his sights set on opening the doors to a store over on the east coast of the US.
"Of course the space is very important, it really has to be the right building – the moment we find that, we'll be in New York."
Photography is by Jim Mangan unless stated otherwise.
#821 Benn98, Dec 29, 2020
Phuel likes this.
Off-White - Milan
Off-White - Miami
Burberry - Shenzhen, China
Louis Vuitton - Las Vegas
Acne Studios - Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm
Phuel Well-Known Member
^^^ LOL it's so "The Stone Table" from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. I can't tolerate such kitschy pretension.
Dries' LA store is intoxicatingly luscious and so warm. Feels and looks like walking into some colossal and still personable closet with the pictures wallpapering the room. So glad it's not some Acne or Rick Owens overwrought nonsense that's so typical of LA designer shops.
#827 Phuel, Jan 11, 2021 at 11:29 AM
Phuel said: ↑
LOL, ok so Acne's Swedish outlet is a bit....much. But in general, they have some cool stores. Maybe it will look better once they've fully decorated it. Such a cool brand.
Anyway, the Dries store reflects his brand identity and for exactly that reason does not speak to me. I don't get what's so edgy about the picture wallpaper, 'a pop of colour' here and there, and that accessories display table which is ugly as sin. I bet if you saw that table in Helmut Lang's LA store you'd thrash it, lol.
#828 Benn98, Jan 11, 2021 at 11:37 AM
That Dries' isn't tryhard edgy is exactly why I'm drawn to it.
The exterior alone looks and feels so humble and modest— like one of those residential homes that has been converted to a charming clinic/shop/bar.
(As if they haven't already beat Helmut's legacy and brand to an ugly, rotten, dead horsemeat of a pulp already LOL Anything nu-Helmut is stinking dead to me, Benn. They can sell the brand at Uniqlo/IKEA/Urban Outfitters in those metal troughs placed in centre of the isle, and I wouldn't bat a lash.)
#829 Phuel, Jan 11, 2021 at 4:31 PM
MulletProof Well-Known Member
Benn98 said: ↑
Anyway, the Dries store reflects his brand identity and for exactly that reason does not speak to me. .
It does reflect its current brand identity, just a Belgian Oscar de la Renta. I can't even imagine what an LA store in the right place (not gross La Cienega ) would've looked like back in those years when his garments alone would immerse you into this One Thousand and One Nights type of journey rich in textile techniques, story-telling and fascinating traditions from far away places.
I was mildly tempted to stop by the store during a brief LA visit some days ago.. I understand the big house is the store and the little house is the contemporary art gallery he thought of combining his store with so we think that more than a store, it's a cool store? the idea of a gallery just makes it so insufferable. Add to that the area and the depressing radius of Covid epicentre it's in (Cedars) and no, thank you. It looks inviting though.. might stop by in the summer.
(that third picture is bringing me horrible memories of when I was unknowingly a walking ball of covid and entered a store full of vintage Chanel that looked more or less like that and browsed through everything.. I'm sorry people! hope you used sanitizer ).
#830 MulletProof, Jan 11, 2021 at 4:53 PM
fakeawake Active Member
yikes dries didn't even paint the walls. wow i don't see it for him. this store seems like one of those locations that nobody stays at.... every shopping neighborhood has one.
#831 fakeawake, Jan 12, 2021 at 2:53 AM
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