The Dries Van Noten American flagship in Los Angeles is a haven gathering experiences that embraces the creative pulse of Los Angeles and its creative and fashion community.

With an open layout of 8500 square feet, the shop in Los Angeles is the largest of all Dries Van Noten retail locations. Great care is taken to maintain the existing architectural attributes of the space. Decorative artifice is kept to a minimum with its design a uniquely spare expression of the world of Dries Van Noten.

The site comprises two houses separated by a vast parking lot. It comprises ‘The Big House’ on two floors, the ground floor for the women’s collections with those for men upstairs. ‘The Little House’ is one open plan space. Verdant foliage outside the houses and cut flowers within express the botanical legacy of Dries Van Noten. This is heightened by the work of Japanese artist Azuma Makoto, with whom Dries has previously collaborated on scenography for a Paris fashion show and exhibition.

Visitors are welcomed into a world of bright and stark contrasts with a playful juxtaposition of architecture, furniture, colour and perspectives. Walls are optic white, and floors grey concrete. In places structural elements are heightened by the vivid yellow that is synonymous with all Dries Van Noten locations and expressed throughout this space in a wide variety of materials, from textiles, carpets to enamel.

Most furniture for the space has been repurposed. Elements created by the French furniture designer, Johan Viladrich, are also featured throughout the houses. His process for architectural designs generate ‘zero waste.’ Viladrich uses pre-existing, often industrial materials, and grafts them onto existing furniture to extend functionality and create a new purpose.

A diverse group of local and international L.A. based artists are invited to paint directly on walls throughout the rooms dedicated to the collections for Women and Men. Both women’s and men’s floors will feature an archive room presenting a selection of garments and accessories from past collections for purchase. The Big and Little Houses will each be a place to exhibit works by artists, designers and craftspeople whose work has impressed Dries Van Noten.