At Eckhaus Latta’s NYFW shows, models have demolished a wall, with a live Dev Hynes soundtrack, and stomped through a giant inflatable dome. One season, we even watched the experimental brand’s crew of nodels from the comfort of a massive, luxurious hammock inside Ralph Pucci International’s Chelsea furniture showroom. Given creative directors Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta’s affinity for unique spaces and artistic interventions, we weren’t at all sure what to expect from the duo’s first ever brick-and-mortar shop, which just celebrated its opening weekend in Los Angeles. No drywall detritus, lifesize cardboard cutouts, or stray leaves of lettuce, but a “space that allows us to have a more intimate relationship with our customers,” Eckhaus and Latta tell us.
Designed in collaboration with designer Emma Price and artist Skye Chamberlain, the space (which, according to Yelp, used to house a cannabis clinic) is located on a sunny stretch of Fountain Ave in Little Armenia. Though the store will focus on selling Eckhaus Latta collections, it’ll also play home to rotating installations and collaborations by the designers’ friends. Eckhaus and Latta also plan to use the space as a gallery-cum-creative clubhouse, having already broken in its backyard with an opening party. As the pair finalize their in-store playlist (we recommend resurrecting Dev’s original soundtrack from fall/winter 15), we catch up to talk shop.
Why open a store now, and why in Los Angeles?
There’s an ability in LA to explore space that feels rather unobtainable at the moment in NYC. For the past year our LA studio has been located in a storefront in East Hollywood. It has been a dream of ours to have a brick-and-mortar store; given the structure of the space, it felt right to open up a shop in the front portion of the studio.
Can you describe what the space looks and feels like?
The space was designed with our good friends, designer Emma Price and artist Skye Chamberlain. Along with them and some other friends, the store was constructed over the course of the spring. Our intention with the space was to create something that felt inviting and other.
What’s for sale?
The store will focus on Eckhaus Latta collections. We are also offering a selection of one-of-a-kind garments by the designer Sophie Andes Gascon as well as Waggy Tee by Nora Slade. Nora, who is a painter, has also constructed a temporal installation that will be up until mid summer. We’re going to unroll a series of collaborations with friends who are artists, designers, etc. They will be able to intervene with the shop and we have a series of limited edition t-shirts marking the collaboration.
What’s your favorite store ever and why?
This is such a hard question. There are many stores that are inspiring in numerous ways — it’s fun to consider the variables that makes one store more favorable over another. There are certain places we love to buy things and certain places we love to visit just to experience. We hope that our shop will fulfill both of these aspects.
For information and store hours, call the Eckhaus hotline: 323-90LATTA
Credits
Text Emily Manning
Photography courtesy Rob Kulisek