Concealed inside Concierge, a newly opened coffee parlour originally from Berlin, which itself is embedded in the equally new SIGNAL retail cluster in the revitalised Arts District of Los Angeles, Departamento has inaugurated the next chapter of its retail history. The multi-brand menswear store, founded in 2017 by Joseph Quiñones and Andrew Dryden, has opened a sleek yet splendorous new store with a quirky and bold vision on retail that’s totally aligned with its fashion-forward target demographic. Designed by 22RE, an architecture and design practice based in Los Angeles, the Departamento store is a veritable kaleidoscope of intimate nooks and open spaces which not only allow shoppers intriguing little peeks of vignettes and collections, but also evoke a strong sense of adventure when navigating the premises.
Indeed, today’s hyper savvy shopper needs to be stimulated. The visual bravado is anchored by sculptural volumes in a variety of materials which display the merchandise while also demarcating Departamento‘s myriad of spaces and nooks. Drawing on the styling sensibilities of 20th-century European Modernists, the ceiling I-beams have been dipped in silver as an homage to Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra. Overlaid with a white aluminium grid ceiling, which ties in all of the store’s sections, the store gains a bold industrial edge, while deep burgundy carpeting and spotted cowhide seating throughout the store offer a quirky counterbalance. Adding another visual layer to the Departamento store are the furnishings, comprising custom-made pieces and sourced designer items.
The range of items include futuristic jewellery cabinets in soft green fibreglass resin and a chiseled aluminium side table, and carefully sourced designer items, including a TG-15 sling lounge chair by William Katavolos, Ross Littell and Douglas Kelly, and slipper chairs by Tito Agnoli. And that’s not all. 22RE has also partnered with Japanese designer Taiga Takahashi for a shop-in-shop. The space can be accessed via a slatted, sliding door, and reveals a traditional ryokan-inspired setting. The space features repurposed Sugi wood sourced from old Japanese ryokans, and shelving with tatami-mat bases also from the Land of the Rising Sun. The new Departamento store carries a tightly curated range of menswear brands, including Wales Bonner, Camiel Fortgens, LOEWE, Enfants Riches Déprimés, SECOND/LAYER and The Row. © superfuture
Departamento
SIGNAL, 821 Traction Avenue (Arts District)
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Telephone +1 213 9887229
Mon-Sat 10am-5pm
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