Dear Shaded Viewers,
While it seems that the multi-brand wholesale model is crumbling to an end, Rei Kawakubo and Adrian Joffe prove once again the power in thinking against the grain. On May 24th, 2024, the “Dover Street Market” concept store opened in Paris in the 17th century Hôtel de Coulanges on 35-37 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois. Welcoming in the public for the first time, the 1100 square metre space was redesigned entirely by Rei Kawakubo, encapsulating everything she and her husband and business partner Adriane Joffe have learned over the past 20 years.
DSM brings the Commes Des Garçons lines, including Noir Kei Ninomiya and Junya Watanabe along with other Japanese designers like Undercover, Sacai and Doublet to Paris. Hand selected pieces make up the stock from Maisons Prada, Balenciaga, Miu Miu, Bottega Veneta and names with cult followings such as Rick Owens and Walter Van Bierendonck. Established younger designers are also welcomed into the mix, including Simone Rocha, Molly Goddard, Sevali, Cecilie Bahnsen, Wales Bonner and Chopova Lowena, some of which are available nowhere else in France. While at its core DSM is a luxury retailer, the Paris location is dedicated to younger emerging designers. ERL, Vaquera, Honey Fucking Dijon and Sky High Farm are some examples, discoverable within the dense selection of spotlighted “streetwear”.
The way that we shop is no longer working because people are tired of scrolling endlessly online in hopes of finding something special and receiving garments in a cardboard box on the front doorstep. The step of first meeting and falling in love with a garment has become lost. Rei Kawakubo’s goal was to bring the fashion lovers who feel this loss together and give back to them, even elevate, the sense of discovery and adventure in shopping.
Windows from the outside leave no clue as to what will be found within, yet they beckon the bold and curious. Exploring and making sense of the displays requires time and care from the shopper. The main DSM space is explorable like a maze, with rounded white walls and steel mesh displays dividing zones that bring designers’ side by side to one another. Each display was imagined by Rei Kawakubo and manufactured in Japan, juxtaposing original details of the hotel. While it has been reimagined and repurposed, the building itself feels respected, untouched as a raw outer shell without distracting from shopper’s experience. Jewellery, shoe spaces, sunglass displays, the CDG Play Pocket Shop, and the 1909 Bookstore are discoverable throughout white walls, with no clues to reveal their location. The founding principle of DSM was “beautiful chaos”, but in Paris this has expanded instead to “the new chaos”.
Each brand was already in partnership with DSM through relationships that are neither horizontal (one controls the other) nor vertical (equals working alongside each other). Instead, they form a symbiotic community, constantly evolving in a form of a helix. More than fashion, the DSMP selection speaks to a state of mind, a level of respect, and a cultural family.
Brands were selected for their ability to design a unique world for their loyal customers that extends further than the wardrobe. In the other DSM locations, each brand is given a space to curate, while in DSMP Kawakubo herself maintained control. This gives brands an equal footing, forcing the shopper to drop expectations for what they seek and explore blindly.
DSMP aims to advance conversations within and surrounding the world of fashion, and its latest location includes spaces dedicated to that. At the time of DSMP’s opening, the cobblestone courtyard houses larger than life photographs by Paolo Roversi, presented on grand pillars. An exhibition of his work is also found in the event space of DSMP’s basement, which will be used for a wide range of cultural events in the future. A smaller exhibition space characterised with exposed stone walls will be used to highlight select artists and designers in a pop-up shop format. Currently, Matty Bovan presents an exclusive capsule collection in a hand painted immersive artwork that reimagines an apartment, with his garments incorporated into the design.
The Rose Bakery tearoom is a destination eatery, integral to the DSMP experience. Directly across the hotels courtyard, Rose Carrarini’s delightful selection of sweet and savoury treats can be enjoyed in a terrace overlooking an intimate hidden garden.
Dover Street Market Paris is open now, Monday to Saturday 11:00am-7:00pm, and Sunday 12:00pm-7:00pm.
Later,
Eliya
