ALD opens in West Hollywood

Aimé Leon Dore is opening a permanent store in West Hollywood, giving the New York label its first Los Angeles flagship. (mr-mag.com) MR Magazine reported the news on April 14 and said the West Hollywood shop will be the brand’s third permanent flagship, after New York and London. The publication did not list an opening date or store-specific product plans. (mr-mag.com) A separate report from House of Heat said the store is planned for 8746 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood and described a grand opening as coming “soon.” That address places the brand on Melrose, one of Los Angeles’ main luxury and streetwear retail corridors. (houseofheat.co) The move turns a long-signaled West Coast expansion into a physical store. PAUSE wrote this month that Aimé Leon Dore had been teasing a Los Angeles location, while MR Magazine framed the opening as the brand’s first permanent foothold in the city. (pausemag.co.uk; mr-mag.com) It also comes as the company broadens beyond the menswear base that built its name. PAUSE reported in March that Aimé Leon Dore is releasing its first womenswear collection, a change after years of operating as a menswear-led label. (pausemag.co.uk) Founder Teddy Santis started Aimé Leon Dore in 2014, according to the brand’s own site. The company describes itself as a New York City-based fashion and lifestyle brand, language that helps explain why permanent stores have been treated as brand statements, not just sales floors. (aimeleondore.com; aimeleondore.com) The existing flagships show the format Los Angeles is likely to follow. Aimé Leon Dore’s website says the New York store is at 224 Mulberry Street and the London store is at 32 Broadwick Street, with both spaces built around a mid-century interior style, a sound room, and a Greek-inspired café. (aimeleondore.com; aimeleondore.com) MR Magazine noted that the Los Angeles opening comes three years after the relaunch of the Mulberry Street flagship. For a label that still has only two permanent flagships listed on its own site, adding West Hollywood is a measured expansion rather than a rapid rollout. (mr-mag.com; aimeleondore.com; aimeleondore.com) What happens next is mostly about timing. As of April 15, neither the brand’s site nor the April 14 trade coverage had posted an opening date, and the Los Angeles store remains a coming-soon project rather than an operating flagship. (mr-mag.com; houseofheat.co)