How To: Stay Cool
“I was very curious about this idea of enhancing the ordinary, the mundane, even the ugly, and not taking away its identity, its functionality, but just giving it a well-tailored suit out of knitting.” — Magda Sayeg
As outside perspectives build on how Dover Street Market (DSM) embodies founder Rei Kawakubo’s vision, the themes that are clear include total immersion, intention, and playfulness. Karrie Jacobs, who wrote an architectural critique of the store in 2014, discussed with me how retail is a reflection of culture. She mentioned how fashion always mimics a lifestyle, a mood — something other than fashion. “But with Kawakubo it’s less predictable,” she told me. “It’s about the collective energy of contradictory approaches and visual languages, not some seamless immersion in one tightly edited version of good taste.”¹ The dialogue that takes place between each of DSM’s displays and sections is unique from the mood evoked by the clean, consistent vision presented in a brand-specific boutique. For example, Louis Vuitton has implemented a complete takeover of stores through its Yayoi Kusama collaboration and product theme for this season. Everything from staff uniform to packaging, to the sidewalks, all carry Kusama’s signature polka dots in varying colors, on top of the actual products from the collection.² That would be considered tightly edited. On the other end of the spectrum, luxury department stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue carry a variety of brands and often showcase smaller stores within: Givenchy, Bottega Veneta, and Chanel might have boutique stalls next to each other like a condensed shopping mall. There’s no discourse taking place between the brands — it’s rather a commercial and organizational tool with not much life on display.
Typical retail organization, such as by hierarchy or by value is ignored here; A $14,000 Italian-made shearling coat is steps from a $40 screen-printed t-shirt with heavy branding.
DSM exists as this enigma somewhere between the tight edit and loose conglomeration. While it has the overarching vision of Rei Kawakubo’s brand Comme des Garçons, it also invites designers both underground and established to create their desired environment to bring their clothing and/or artwork to life. But it welcomes the good, the bad, and the ugly by juxtaposing brands, designs, and concepts. Typical retail organization, such as by hierarchy or by value is ignored here; the top floor, which for most luxury stores is where the good stuff is (VIP salons and most expensive products), clashes streetwear with runway. New York skate brand Supreme is adjacent to prominent luxury house Gucci. A $14,000 Italian-made shearling coat is steps from a $40 screen-printed t-shirt with heavy branding. That’s just one example — the beautiful chaos within DSM, a term coined by Kawakubo, is that dialogue of environments, whether it be complimentary or in opposition.
Nevertheless, Rose Bakery is to the right of the glass elevator tucked in the corner away from the entrance. Originally created in 2002 in Paris by Rose Carrarini, DSM co-founder Adrian Joffe’s sister, and her husband Jean Charles, it’s meant to be its own destination and has a changing menu that boasts comfort and promotes fresh and locally sourced ingredients. The bakery is situated behind a rainbow yarn-bombed column by the textile artist Magda Sayeg, regarded as the “mother of yarn-bombing,” which importantly is non-load-bearing,³ adding to the overt gestures made by the space. Yarn-bombing involves applying knitted material to an outside environment, graffiti-style, as Sayeg puts it. “All I wanted to see was something warm and fuzzy and human-like on the cold, steel, gray facade that I looked at every day,” she said in a 2015 TED Talk about her art movement. “I was very curious about this idea of enhancing the ordinary, the mundane, even the ugly, and not taking away its identity, its functionality, but just giving it a well-tailored suit out of knitting.”⁴ A white column, so inherent to both classical and industrial architecture but usually with a function, softened by the human hand in a way that implies clash but also connection and personality. This symbol turns architecture on its head by upending its norms; why have a column that is non-load-bearing in the first place, let alone wrapped in yarn? Kawakubo’s sense of humor earned the Gen Z stamp of approval fairly quickly.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Browse: www.doverstreetmarket.com.
- Watch: Colette Mon Amour directed by Hugues Lawson-Body.
- Read: Rei Kawakubo / Comme Des Garçons: Art of the In-between by Andrew Bolton.
- Email interview with Karrie Jacobs. 2023.
- Cole, Margherita. “Yayoi Kusama’s Iconic Polka Dots Take Over Louis Vuitton Stores Around the World.” My Modern Met. 2023.
- Jacobs, Karrie. “Dover Street Market New York Makes a Serious Fashion Statement.” ARCHITECT. 2014.
- “How yarn bombing grew into a worldwide movement | Magda Sayeg.” Youtube. March 22, 2016.
