20 years of Dover Street Market: Rei Kawakubo’s Space that changed the way of understanding retailing

In 2004, Rei Kawakubo, the Japanese designer and founder of Comme des Garçons, opened the doors of Dover Street Market in London, a concept that would forever transform the way we understand luxury retail and fashion in general. Kawakubo created a space where fashion merges with art and culture, creating unprecedented synergies in the retail world and laying the foundations for a new model.

The creation of Dover Street Market was born from Rei Kawakubo’s desire to break the mold of traditional luxury stores. The big fashion houses presented their collections in a classic way, following the conventional scheme of shelves, racks and showcases perfectly ordered. Kawakubo has never seen fashion in this way, there is no greater proof of this than her creations at Comme des Garçons; she has always seen fashion as a constantly evolving art form, which is why DSM was created as a space where not only clothes were sold, but where clothes, art, objects and design could interact.

Rather than being a store in the traditional sense, the space was more like a constantly changing art gallery. The collections were not organized in a conventional manner, but were presented on shelves, walls and structures that invited the customer to explore, discover and experiment. This layout not only reflected the Comme des Garçons aesthetic, but also highlighted Kawakubo’s desire to transcend the mere commercialization of clothing, creating an ever-changing collaboration between fashion and art.

4 photos

Big names in art such as KAWS, Daniel Arsham and Yayoi Kusama, among others, have collaborated with the store, bringing their work into the realm of fashion and creating limited editions, installations and exclusive products. While traditional luxury stores tend to focus on established brands and the sale of commercial products, Dover Street Market has been a haven for both artists and the industry’s most cutting-edge, and even not-so-well-known, brands, and their collaborations have been a fundamental part of the store’s DNA.

Supreme, Virgil Abloh’s Off-White, and Balenciaga have all had their space in Kawakubo’s playground, but the most unexpected collaboration in DSM’s history was its partnership with Chanel in 2016, when the French maison launched an exclusive capsule for the store, combining the couture world of Chanel with the experimental spirit of Dover Street Market. Another collaboration that can never be forgotten was with Virgil Abloh in 2020, which paid tribute to his legacy as one of the most important designers of our time.

6 photos

Since its opening in London, Dover Street Market has managed to expand its influence to other key cities such as Tokyo and New York, and recently to Paris, taking its concept globally and consolidating itself as a reference around the world; not only as a store, but as a cultural institution that continues to constantly redefine the future of the fashion industry.

To see how Dover Street Market is celebrating its 20th anniversary, click here.

Mathew Blazy takes over the reins at Chanel.