Shades of Grey to open its second Los Angeles boutique at the end of January

The Highland Park neighborhood, with its two main thoroughfares, North Figueroa Street and York Boulevard, has been experiencing a true effervescence in the world of retail over the past few months. Far from the fashionable neighborhoods of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, the area now boasts more than a dozen independent fashion boutiques. In a few weeks, it will see the opening of the second Shades of Grey boutique.

The brand launched in 2009 by Micah and Jenny Cohen, which opened its first store at the Platform shopping center and then moved to Row DTLA, will now offer its men’s collections on York Boulevard close to Magpies ice-cream shop.

After a decade of selling to major retailers and specialty boutiques, Shades of Grey adopted a direct-to-consumer business model in 2019. Originally a menswear brand, it later developed women’s collections with Jenny Cohen at its helm. However for the next four seasons Shades of Grey will focus exclusively on its men’s collections. A soft and creative direction coupled with a price positioning in tune with the Highland Park population should ensure its success.

Independent brands with 1 to 3 stores have proliferated in recent years. Among them, The Quiet Life, Freenote Cloth, Snake Oil Provisions and Bud Press with its colorful jumpsuits. In a slightly different repertoire, Ten Shoppe, the brand created by sisters Linda and Esther Chang, the daughters of Forever 21’s founder, opened in 2021 in place of a former Forever 21 store.
 
Following the area’s quick gentrification, Canadian brand Kotn, a middle-market sustainable clothing brand designed in Canada and manufactured in Egypt, opened in Highland Park in 2022. A good way to test the American market, after having opened in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Finally, in May 2022, Wasteland opened its third boutique, offering a mix of vintage and contemporary brands.
 

On a more luxurious note, Flamingo Estate, the cosmetics and fragrances brand developed by Richard Christiansen, opened its pop-up at the beginning of December in collaboration with Mytheresa.

Until the end of the year, the two brands are offering an immersive experience in a candy-decorated house that recreates Flamingo’s interiors room by room, with luxury products available on Mytheresa featured throughout, all made entirely from gingerbread. The Mytheresa x Flamingo Estate vacation home located on Figueroa Street also includes Mytheresa’s dream closet with a selection of fashion and home accessories, which can be purchased using a QR code, as well as a European-style bakery that bakes personalized Mytheresa, Flamingo Estate and Google cookies.