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Rag & Bone's new Melrose Ave flagship store opening party may just go down as the biggest LA shop launch this year. There were celebrities—among them, Cameron Diaz, Reese Witherspoon, Emma Roberts, Aziz Ansari and Mad Men's tiny fashionista, Kiernan Shipka. There were three bars, one in the women's section of the store, one in the men's and one outside, where party planners had turned a sizable parking lot into a massive garden space with tables and benches. The night's host was Bee Shaffer (whose mother, Anna Wintour, showed up to lend her support) and the party's tunes were supplied by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Oh, and there were tons of fancy snacks by neighbor Lucques like asparagus and burrata wrapped in prosciutto, flank steak with beurre blanc and crab on cucumber—good food is always appreciated at a fashion party—tasty Svedka drinks served up by model-y looking barkeeps and, at the outdoor bar, glasses full of loosies.
While Reese and Cameron chatted nearby in the Harrow boot and the Classic Newbury, respectively, Racked LA had a quick chat with Rag & Bone co-founder Marcus Wainwright about the store, celebrity fans and what's next for LA.
What does it mean to you and David to open an store in LA?
"It's very exciting. It's a bit of a rite of passage to have a store in LA. It's good. We got quite a few stores everywhere else. LA's a big market for us, so it made sense. We know a lot of people here. We just had to wait for the right place to come."
Will there be more LA locations?
"Yeah, maybe. We have such a broad collection that it could be men's, it could be handbags and shoes. It could be lots of different things."
What's different about this store?
"It's bigger. As we've grown up, we've realized that we need a store of a certain size to show everything that we do. So if you have a collection store, it needs to be pretty big to show men's, women's, shoes, bags and jeans because they're all quite separate businesses."
You have a big celebrity following. How does that affect things?
"We're lucky to be friends with some celebrities but there are friends that are celebrities in New York as well. LA tends to be a bit more focused on that and I think you just have to adjust. We've had quite a few people over to the store and we will have have a celebrity services type of thing going on for stylists and stuff."
· Rag & Bone [Official Site]
· For Rag & Bone, Parking Was Melrose Storefront's Selling Point [Racked]
· Rag & Bone's Melrose Storefront Signage is Up! [Racked]
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