An article/interview from wallpaper.com Looks like a guerrilla store in Beirut is coming. Next level of irony?
In our opinion the husband and wife team, Adrian Joffe and Rei
Kawakubo, can do little wrong. Not only is Comme de Garcons one of our
wardrobe highlights, but we?re enormous fans of their fragrance
portfolio and their worldwide guerrilla stores have spawned some of our
most memorable retail sessions. But of all their projects, London?s
Dover Street Market is perhaps our favourite.
When it opened in 2004, shock waves rippled around neighbouring
Mayfair: the W1 district is not somewhere that readily lends itself to
scaffold, portakabins and exposed brick. But the winning combination of
intriguing interiors and globally sourced labels (hand-picked by
Kawakubo herself) soon silenced any discerning neighbours, and two
years later Dover Street Market is a landmark destination for anyone
with more than a passing interest in quality fashion and retail.
In keeping with new season collections, Joffe and Kawakubo,
with the help of guest designers each time, transform the interior of
the store in what?s known as Tachiagari (the word comes from the
twisting trunk of the Bonsai tree). This time round, new spaces have
been designed by Kawakubo, Pierre Hardy, Alber Elbaz and Manish Arora
amongst others. Michael Howells, the set designer responsible for much
of the store?s interiors, has created an installation for the ground
floor window, inspired by Comme de Garcons Homme Plus.
We took time out with Adrian Joffe to discuss the evolution of the unique store and had a sneak preview of the new interiors. Click here to read the interview and here to see the gallery.
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Have the first two and half years at Dover Street Market
gone according to plan or have you updated and adapted things as you?ve
gone along?
Our plan in fact was to continually change and update the store. From
the very beginning we wanted something alive that could lend itself
well to changes and evolution.
Tell us a little about the changes you?ve undertaken to the store?
There
have been countless changes: the basement has already gone through
three incarnations, new concessions have been added, furniture has been
completely changed, wall constructed and taken away, new backdrops
painted. It?s hard to talk ?a little? about the changes we?ve done
here!
How have the labels you stock alongside Comme de Garcons changed, or developed?
They?ve been added to extensively. We keep trying to make more space for more people.
Are the portakabins still there?
Most certainly.
A lot of people have commented on the film-set feel to Howell?s interior- was this intentional?
Absolutely.
We decided not to work with architects, but with film and stage set
designers, of which Michael Howells is our favourite. We wanted to see
the backside of the backdrop as well.
What we love particularly about DSM is the very effortless,
non-aggressive anti-corporate feel to the space- so at odds with every
other retail space within a square mile- is this something you?ve
consciously cultivated?
This is indeed what we wanted, an ever-changing interaction of creative
ideas and diverse visions coming together in the context of a market
place, without taking any notice of rules, regulations and market
forces. However, we also always wanted to remain, at heart, just a shop
that sells nice things in a cool atmosphere ? not an exhibition place,
not a gallery, not a museum and certainly not a place where fashion met
art.
How do the clientele of DSM differ to those of your other flagships?
It seems to have become a fashion tourist attraction in its own right.
The clientele is certainly much wider than in our Paris and New York
stores, perhaps given there?s just so much choice. And yes it does
appear we?ve become something of a tourist attraction too, which is
fine.
Could DSM have worked in Paris or New York, do you think?
No,
I don?t think so. DSM for us remains very much anchored in the spirit
and energy of London, from which it drew its inspiration. In another
city it would inevitably have to be something different. And in any
case, we never do the same shop twice since it?s important for us that
each of our shops has a connection with its location, no matter how
abstract.
Your guerrilla concept stores have been immensely popular all over
the world. Where did your inspiration come from and how do they work
alongside your permanent flagships in London, Paris and New York?
The guerrilla concept was born out of the starting-up energy from East
Berlin, where kids would take a tiny space for a hundred dollars a
month, and just do their own thing. We?ve now opened and closed 29
guerrilla stores, all completely different, all with very different
people, who don?t work in the fashion business as such. We?ve not yet
considered a guerrilla store in London, Paris or New York as the main
idea is to break new grounds in markets not yet developed. But as a
concept, guerrilla stores sit nicely with DSM and everything else we
do, as everything essentially adheres to our core sense of values.
And what of your future plans?
We?re just opening a new guerrilla store in Beirut, and looking forward
to some Comme de Garcons flagship stores in China coming up soon.
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