The Dover Street Market is a unique environment dreamed up by former Commes des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo. The purpose of the DSM (Dover Street Market) is to disrupt the fast fashion and retail system and to offer a space for fashion designers and artists to present their work to the world.

The experimental fashion hub is a new kind of shopping experience that celebrates creativity, decries conformity and ignores established principles of retail. It is a place where streetwear collides with luxury, where young designers line up with world famous icons, and designers are free to make their own spaces.

The original store in Mayfair, London opened in 2004. Since then Rei Kawakubo has launched DSM stores in Ginza, New York and Los Angeles. Each one has its own personality and features the greats in fashion along with emerging talent and local designers and artists¹.

The recent addition in LA is a 15,000-square-foot (1,393-square-metres) ground floor space with a variety of fashion art installations across the store. The Los Angeles location features installations by six celebrated artists including Warren Muller, Lyn Dillin, Bjorn Dahlem, Yuichi Higashionna, Gary Card and Stuart Haygarth. The installations change regularly and each is custom designed and fabricated by designers or in collaboration with local artists.

Here are the some of the most creative fashion art installations inside Dover Street Market stores worldwide.

Dover Street Market Los Angeles

Stephen Jones

Commes des Garçons

Best buy:

Commes des Garçons x Hanes t-shirts. 100% cotton, $90.

Commes des Garçons workman’s coat, 100% cotton, $250.

Commes des Garçons hologram hoodie, 100% cotton, $190.

Doublet

Jacquemus

Brain Dead

Sacai

Simone Roche

Women’s Young Creatives (General Area)

Pat McGrath Labs x The Met

Undercover

Maison Margiela

Dover Street Market Ginza

Gucci Hat Parade

Best buy:

Gucci ‘GG’ print turbon, 100% velvet, $440.

Model in Gucci turban. (photo: Gucci)

DSM Book Shelf

Chrome Hearts

Undercover Men’s wear

Best buy:

Undercover turtleneck jumper, 100% wool, on sale $680.

Undercover Fall 2018 runway show. (Photo: Vogue)

Nemeth

Dover Street Market New York

Marine Serre

Best buy:

Marine Serre x Nicholas Kirkwood high heel boot, trademarked french Moire textile, $1200.

Marine Serre fall 2018 collection (photo: Vogue)

Dover Street Market London

Stephen Jones

Raf Simons

Dover Street Market Sneakers (General Area)

Dover Street Market Women’s (General Area)

Commes des Garcons

Best buy:

Commes des Garçons sneaker, 100% cotton and rubber, $125.

Commes des Garçons workman’s coat, 100% cotton, $140.

Commes des Garçons wristlet, 100% cowhide, $105.

Sources

¹ Wallpaper* Magazine: “Retail rebellion: we trace Dover Street Market’s first decade of boundary-pushing design.” (2014)