If you’ve never visited in London before, you might be forgiven for walking past its storefront on Haymarket, what with the giant white balls that fill its windows. If you look closely between the gaps of the spheres, you’ll see slivers of Simone Rocha peeking through. Yes, this is, in fact, a store that sells clothes.
There’s no main front door. Call it IYKYK, as those who frequent DSM – and there are many – will obviously know to walk around the corner to the entrance on Orange Street and be greeted warmly. ‘At Dover Street Market, we are taught core values that encourage us to approach our visitors (and each other) with respect and kindness,’ explains Davinder Matharu, who is responsible for the friendly welcoming of guests at DSM.
Immediately, you’re confronted by what Rei Kawakubo, the founder of both Dover Street Market and Comme des Garçons, calls the ‘beautiful chaos’. Streetlamps bent over fine- vitrines. A pile of café chairs with Stephen Jones hats hanging off them.
The central exhibition space always in flux, playing host to special installations by designers and creatives (at time of writing, it’s Swiss artist Roman Signer’s collaboration with Comme des Garçons). And you’ll find as much room and imagination devoted to young brands, including , as you would to a heavyweight name such as Gucci, along with some unlikely juxtapositions: a utilitarian Labour and Wait apron next to hand-distressed textiles by Elena Dawson, for example. I.