“America was my big ambition.” So says Simon Porte Jacquemus, standing inside his brand-new Los Angeles flagship store. It’s his second brick and mortar in the United States, following the opening of his first retail space, a two-floor townhouse in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood back in October. “Jacquemus really connected with America since the beginning,” he says. “Our first stockist was in California—Opening Ceremony was the first to buy my brand. They sold it in New York and LA, it just clicked.”
The almost 2800 square feet space, with its vaulted ceiling, is so light and airy that although it’s right in the city’s busy Melrose Avenue, you’d be forgiven if for a second you thought you were in a quiet farmhouse somewhere in the south of France. “We started looking for a place two years ago,” Porte Jacquemus explains. “I was obsessed with the idea of doing a grand salon, like a grand fitting room; something that was super welcoming and you just want to hang out there with this feeling of Provence.” The herringbone floors are unmistakably French, albeit with a twist. They’re inspired by classic Parisian parquet floors, but “done in stone—and voilá! we have both worlds.”
Anchoring the room are two extra-long couches upholstered in sunny yellow linen, which just a few hours after the store’s grand opening are now populated by people hanging out—some waiting for shoes, others making content, or those simply enjoying the beautiful day. Throughout the store, accessories are displayed in custom-made, sleek stone-and-metal tables designed by Porte Jacquemus and the team. “It’s almost the same ones I have at my house,” he looks down at the handsome tables and laughs. “Sometimes I am like, ‘why are my shops better than my house?’—I said that to my husband yesterday!” But the tables are not the only things “borrowed” from the designer’s own home. The space is filled with art treasures that come from his own private collection: a topsy-turvey photograph of David Hockney by Peggy Sirota (“it just made sense to have him in the city”), fleshy nudes by the French painter Maurice Savin (“He is not very well known, but I just love him”), and two pieces by Renoir: a small engraving and a bronze bather. “It’s always important to have objects, it gives another vibe to the store,” he says.
A selection of vintage silver jewelry and small housewares, like a devastatingly chic table-top cigarette case, are a bridge between the menswear and womenswear, and the priceless artworks. Still, perhaps the vibiest objects in the store are part of a “health” capsule collection he created exclusively for the store. For a limited time only—until they run out, so run—you can get a Jacquemus-branded yoga mat, jump rope, or an insulated beverage cup. The piece-de-resistance is likely a set of silver barbells with a mismatched cube and sphere on either end. “I’m obsessed with Muscle Beach,” he explains.
Up next for the designer is a store in Miami, and summer shops in Ibiza, Monaco, and Mykonos. “I love summer stores. People just get out of the pool or the beach and they just want to grab something…They’re in the mood to feel good,” he explains. “I think I want to express myself in my store.”
As Porte Jacquemus walks around the space, young customers come up to take selfies or get their Jacquemus books signed (also sold at the store). Outside, the small parking lot has been converted into a “very French” monochromatic market with bananas, lemons, and all manner of flowers. There is indeed a sense that he is welcoming people into his home. “I always dreamt to have many people together, everyone sharing the same big couch,” he says. In a quaint storefront on Melrose Avenue, his dream has come true.
