Of all the sick, twisted things people do on the Internet, shopping is by far the most maniacal. Who in their right mind would voluntarily abstain from the retail store experience? The chaotic crowds, the fruitless search for free parking, the inept salespeople—OK, so maybe going brick-and-mortar isn’t all that and a bag of couture, but it’s good to have the option.
In what can only be described as an experiment in reverse retailing, popular online fashion emporium Revolve Clothing has opened a flagship store on Melrose Avenue. Michael Mente, one of Revolve’s co-founders, says: “I think it will give our Los Angeles customers a tangible representation of what we’re all about. It’s hard to do that online, where we pride ourselves on carrying a lot of collections from across the board. With this store, we get to curate our merchandise. We get to brand ourselves.”
Part clothing store, part fashion museum, Revolve’s first ever physical location—designed by Standard LLP, the same firm responsible for Jenni Kayne’s minimalist-chic West Hollywood boutique—houses a permanent collection of lines it considers its calling card. These include Oliver Spencer, Alex & Chloe, Rojas, Erin Fetherston and Galliano, among others. The efficient architecture of the store perfectly mimics its philosophy concerning merchandise. “If a line is in store for a week, and there isn’t much interest in it, we’ll pull it out of the store and replace it, hopefully with something that excites our customer,” Mente explains. By stocking merchandise that is virtually (or in this case, physically) chosen by the customer and changing items frequently, the store in fact lives up to its name.
So why not just continue purchasing items from revolveclothing.com? For starters, Revolve will soon offer customers the opportunity to compile an order online that will be made available the next day for trying on in the store. The service would eliminate mail wait, and could eliminate the hassle of having to return ill-fitting garments via post.
Convenience isn’t the only reason to visit Revolve. “Throughout each season, there will be a handful of very special lines made available only in store,” Mente adds. “These are brands hard to find in general, let alone in Los Angeles. Lines that don’t want to be sold online because they want to be kept tight and under the radar. Operating both the website and the store, we’re trying to have our cake and eat it too.” Mente has spent a year getting the space ready. He hopes Revolve Clothing will, in its merchandise and innovations, take its place among the fashion gods of Melrose.
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Marcos Luevanos is Style editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
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