Fashion
Dover Street Market Tachiagari
August 2007: in review
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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INFORMATION
Related article
Adrian Joffe interview
- Website
- http;//www.doverstreetmarket.com
- Telephone
- +44 20 7518 0680
- Address
- Dover Street Market 17-18 Dover Street London W1S 4LT
