Comme Des Garcons - Guerrilla Stores

[nqth]

You are welcome, skot4mc:-)

 

[iyemstoopid]

nqth your blog is gorgeous!!

 

[nqth]

Thank you iyemstd:-)

 

[whizkit]

CdG+65 GS4 opens this Friday.

 

[butbeautiful]

138 steps! if not go through the sophia road estate near peace centre. ha!

 

[nqth]

Oh it is the brightest G store todate:-) I envy Singapour!!!

 

[whizkit]

nqth - You are only a few hours away from Singapore, aren't you?

butbeautiful - 138, lucky number. Been up the hill a few times already.

 

[nqth]

Yes, whizkit:-) in fact I was about to go to Sing for a few days in Dec. But I def. will go this year.

 

[whizkit]

went to the GS today. Very clean and white. It's situated in one of the rooms of an old methodist school now converted to house offices of the creative field. The interior is all white and stacked with old white washed furniture on one wall. Old school furniture are used as display units in the centre of the store. It is about the same size as the last store but located more centrally , though on a hill 138 steps up from the main road.

didn't take much pics, just the entrance

some white washed buttons.

 

[nqth]

beautiful, thanks for the picture, whizkit!

 

[softgrey]

first US guerrilla store is open...but the clothes are stuck in customs!!!...

from the la times

Boutique is naked at its opening
A Comme des Garçons shop launches in downtown Los Angeles, sans the clothing.
By Martha Groves, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 17, 2008

The exposed metal studs, the shopping-cart-sculpture-cum-display-stand and the fashion house executives from Paris were all in place. The hipster-chic customers picked their way past trash bins in an alley leading to the Hernando's Hideaway-style entrance. Perfume bottles and brightly colored wallets were artfully arrayed and ready for sale.

The only things missing from the launch of Comme des Garçons' first "guerrilla store" in the United States were the clothes. They were stuck in U.S. Customs at the Port of Los Angeles.

In another sign that downtown Los Angeles has arrived, Comme des Garçons, the avant-garde label started in Tokyo in 1969, Saturday opened its first temporary boutique in this country -- one intended to make a splash and then disappear. The shop is in a room with 30-foot-high ceilings in a 100-year-old former bank building on 4th Street, behind the sneaker shop Blends.

Even without the main attractions -- jeans, shirts, skirts and dresses -- the boutique created buzz among devotees who traveled from far (Rancho Palos Verdes) and near (a loft across the street). The shop is intended to have a short shelf life, one year, reflecting the fleeting nature of fashion itself.

Comme des Garçons' strategy has been to open stores quickly and at minimal cost in cities including Beirut, Athens, Warsaw, Singapore and Reykjavik, Iceland. Customers tend to learn of the stores through word of mouth or Internet blogs. The short windows of shopping opportunity help create a sense of urgency and allow the small, privately held company to sell pieces not only from the runways but also from past seasons.

"They're ephemeral, temporary events," said Christian Weinecke, the Paris-based employee responsible for setting up the guerrilla store.

The brainchild of Tokyo designer Rei Kawakubo, Comme des Garçons has flagship stores in New York, Paris and Tokyo but also sells clothing in such upscale specialty stores as Saks Fifth Avenue and Ron Herman. The guerrilla concept arose from Kawakubo's 2004 visit to Berlin, where she saw entrepreneurs opening unique cutting-edge boutiques in the heart of the city.

"People were doing their own thing," Weinecke said. "It was a new way to look at fashion retailing."

Andres Sigal had only to walk across the street from his downtown loft to be one of the first customers. Sporting chili-pepper-colored jeans, a geometric print jacket and Sabre sunglasses with chartreuse frames, he proclaimed himself "very excited" about having a beloved but hard-to-find clothing line in the neighborhood.

Comme des Garçons designs -- many of which feature tears, holes and frayed edges -- are the antithesis of cookie-cutter fashion, and "that's what first attracted me to the brand," said Brett Westfall, an artist who persuaded the company to come to downtown L.A.

The store's edgy interior design was created by Tak Kato, Westfall's business partner. Kato applied 6,500 white tiles to the walls, then used a hammer to give some of them a distressed look. He installed grates to evoke factory windows. Metal studs run from floor to ceiling, with rods that, for now, feature empty hangers. Kato described the design as "very anti-Westside."

Kato, a native of Japan, and Westfall, who grew up skateboarding in Irvine, approached the fashion house about using the space for a pop-up shop. They made the case that L.A.'s thriving downtown could draw fashion-savvy customers.

"There have been in the last three years many new businesses and lofts," Kato said. "We thought this was a good opportunity."

Garrett Lee, 20, traveled from Rancho Palos Verdes with his mother, who had learned of the opening from a DailyCandy e-mail that gives the scoop on fashion and other trends.

"It's fun," said Kathy Nakayama Lee, a hygienist who occasionally buys Comme des Garçons pieces. "I love having a reason to go downtown."

John McDowell, dressed in skinny blue plaid pants, said he and his partner, Jimmy Walton, "have been huge fans of Japanese fashion."

"We have always loved Rei's aesthetic," McDowell said. "She never stops moving. This is going to be a mega Comme des Garçons."

Especially once the clothes get sprung from customs.

 

[cutxpaste]

Does anyone know where I can get Comme Des Garcons play online or in New England?

 

[baddabling]

^ Aloharag's website

also, Barneys and Louis Boston

 

[cutxpaste]

I'm looking for the CDG Play Heart Tee Shirt but I can't find it anywhere

 

[mikka000]

I'm looking for the CDG Play Heart Tee Shirt but I can't find it anywhere

www.cliffedge.co.jp

 

[cutxpaste]

^thanks.
Unfortunately the one I want is sold out.

 

[JuiceMajor]

I have dreams like that where I find designer clothing at low prices in some crappy shops. Singapore have the best shops but to be honest not many people appreciate it. Most just stuck to the usual LV and Gucci. Is great that they have DvN too!! I use to enjoy shopping at Helmut Lang as it is always quiet!!

 

[baddabling]

^ i have the black heart tee...
one recommendation i have is to size up, because my shirt fits fine size-wise, but in length it is vair vair short

 

[BerlinRocks]

boys have you planned to open a guerilla store in France? somewhere else than Paris...?

 

[John W]

Loads of PLAY collection still available at Dover Street Market in London. Suggest giving them a call as the staff are great and they can ship worldwide.

Went in last week and they have most of the Tshirts and knitwear as well as plenty left from the Black heart series.

Contact details are on their website www.doverstreetmarket.com