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We heard a rumor that the improbably-located new James Perse store opened this past weekend, and we decided to investigate. It's on a really odd strip of Highland, between Santa Monica and Fountain. Sort of no-man's-land, but there's evidence that a trend may be underway: Free City's complex is right across the street, a chi-chi yoga studio is opening a block north?and of course, there's a cupcakery across the way, so how mean can the street really be?
It was a super-soft opening: meaning, not publicized, very low key. Meaning, not a lot of people knew about it?meaning, when we dropped by, there were three very attentive shopguys and zero other customers, which made it tough to get pictures of the interior. It's a handsome, large to the point of being cavernous, store. There's a "boys and their toys" motif going on -- the boy is James himself, and the toys include an actual Hummer, musical instruments, surfboards and bicycles. The "darkness" the title is referring to is that there's a lot of matte black going on in the store: the signage, the exterior, the bikes, the drumset, the Hummer.
We love the idea of this stretch becoming a retail haven -- it will be interesting to see if the purveyor of $75 t-shirts and spendy cotton goods can successfully anchor a neighborhood's rebirth.
· James Perse [Official Site]
· James Perse Coming to Hollywood [Racked LA, previously]
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