This week, a plethora of brands are opening their first retail stores in Los Angeles. We talk to a few of them about why they decided now was the right time to move to L.A. and the easy West Coast vibe they’re adopting with their store locations.
Lili Chemla, founder of the self-funded, New York-based womenswear brand Leset, didn’t plan to triple her brand’s physical retail footprint overnight. Nor did she plan for both of Leset’s new stores opening this summer to be in Los Angeles. But Chemla said that when the right opportunity presented itself, she couldn’t say no.
“We’re not expanding just to expand,” Chemla told Glossy. She said that after spending time at Sunset Plaza in Los Angeles, and knowing Sunset Boulevard’s long history as a shopping destination, she knew she had to open a store there. “We were waiting for the right location to show up because we knew that the customer really likes seeing and touching the product in person.”
After opening its first permanent store in New York City in 2024, Leset is now opening two more stores, in L.A., next month: one in Palisades Village and the other in Sunset Park. Palisades Village had been closed for the last 19 months after the 2024 wildfires devastated the area. The shopping center only reopened earlier this month. Sunset Plaza in West Hollywood is a newer area but has already drawn in other luxury and fashion brands like Badgley Mischka.
Both of Leset’s new stores are smaller than the New York store and will have a different format: structured like a large walk-in closet and showcasing Leset’s head-to-toe outfits.
Leset is one of many fashion and apparel brands opening their first stores in Los Angeles this summer. In addition to Leset, Sezane, Bombas, Cider, Proenza Schouler and Paloma Wool have all opened stores in the area or will open one soon.
Los Angeles is an important fashion market, with New York City, L.A. and Miami collectively making up more than 80% of U.S. luxury retail. But many East Coast brands start with a New York store before moving to the West Coast. However, now is a good opportunity for brands looking to expand in the Los Angeles area. The area’s nearly 10 million inhabitants have an average household income of over $90,000. L.A. also hosts the busy Port of Los Angeles, which many fashion brands use for importing goods from manufacturing hubs in Asia. Los Angelenos spend an average of over $90,000 per year, well above national averages.
A wave of closures over the last year, caused by a combination of inflation and the wildfires, has sent retail real estate vacancy rates to a 10-year high of nearly 6%. Asking rent per square foot is now $36.90, a nearly 1% drop from a year ago, when many real estate markets were seeing rising rents, according to Matthews Real Estate Investment Services. Meanwhile, in New York City, retail availability has hit an all-time low this year. Retail real estate rents are far higher, averaging several hundred dollars per square foot.
For its part, Leset started as a primarily wholesale brand, launching in 2019 with Net-a-Porter and adding other retailers like Nordstrom since then. But Chemla said she aims for direct sales to make up 60% of the brand, since profit margins are higher. Physical stores will be a key part of that, she said. Last year, Leset’s annual revenue was over $20 million. Today, the brand’s DTC revenue is growing about 130% year over year, while its wholesale revenue is growing about 98% year over year.
Phoebe Little, who designed Leset’s New York store, also designed the brand’s Palisades Village store.
“I felt right at home designing Leset’s first Los Angeles location, having grown up in West L.A.,” Little said. “I wanted this space to feel like another piece of the brand’s world, one that could stand on its own alongside its NYC counterpart. I pulled inspiration from quintessential coastal Californian homes, with warm wood, washed-out tones and stone flooring.”
Dennis Pettis, gm of wholesale and retail for Bombas, told Glossy that L.A. has been part of the brand’s retail plans for a while, but “now felt like the natural next step.” Bombas is opening its first West Coast store on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, a popular shopping strip in Venice, California.
“We’ve spent the last year building real momentum with store openings in places like Philadelphia and Georgetown, and each one has taught us more about what a great Bombas store looks like in person,” Pettis said.
Pettis said the Bombas team spent time in Los Angeles, wandering through shopping districts to connect with different areas on an emotional level rather than relying solely on e-commerce data to guide its decision-making. Chemla said Leset took a similar approach, landing on Sunset Plaza more for the history of Sunset Boulevard than any specific data point derived from customer research.
“There is an innate ease to the city and a creative rhythm spanning film, art, fashion and design that instinctively aligns with the global women we dress,” said Proenza Schouler CEO Shira Suveyke Snyder, in a statement regarding the brand’s new Los Angeles store in Melrose Place, its first in the area. “Los Angeles is home to some of our most devoted customers, so Melrose Place isn’t just a retail expansion; it is an uncompromising environment built to deeply engage with our West Coast community.”
News to know
- A high-profile court case began this week in which Meta is facing accusations of harming and profiting off of young users. If it loses, Meta could be fined over $1 trillion, close to its market capitalization, and be forced to change the way it operates.
- The U.S. delayed a 50% tariff on goods from Canada for three days after coming close to its Wednesday deadline. Negotiations are still undecided, and the tariffs may still go into effect.
- Target received nearly $1 billion in tariff refunds this week, boosting the company’s operating income by nearly 100%. Target leadership has indicated that they will lower prices on more than 10,000 products. Other companies are starting to receive refunds, as well, but whether they will follow suit on price reductions remains to be seen.
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