After many, many requests from my West Coast readers, I have finally found something I think is worthy of a Gift Of Style blog entry. Don't get me wrong, I am obsessed with LA-based fashion brands and all of the fab LA stores (it is my favorite shopping city), but I really only like to write about style/fashion moments I experience first hand and since it has been ages since I have been in LA LA LAND, I have been careful to remain true to my mantra. So if you are wondering why I am taking the risk of telling you about one of my new So Cal finds without actually having seen, touched, lived it, well you see...I know one of the founders and he happens to be one hell of a fashion/style maven and one of the owners of one of my favorite style destinations and cool kid outlets, INVEN.TORY in NYC.
Dakota Collective is an amazing new store concept, located at 1640 Pomona Avenue in Costa Mesa, California or to the all of you "Eastcoasters", the OC. Housed in what used to be a shipyard (love this), the retail space is 3200 square feet of fab brands like BB Dakota, Jack, Cheap Monday, Corpus and lesser known hard-to-find brands, vintage and limited edition product. There will also indoor and outdoor lounge space, a museum/library full of rare art and photography books, a coffee bar, and a gourmet food truck outside during business hours (the future of fine dining for sure). Finally, attached to the store is a music venue/gallery space where music events, art shows, readings, and fashion shows will be held a few times per month..."shopertainment" at its finest!!!!
The store is a collaboration between Katherine Brandes, Creative Director of BB Dakota, Gloria Brandes and Mike Townsend (mentioned above). It is a hotbed of creativity, where fashion meets art, where fashion meets music, where fashion meets innovation...it is designed to be ever changing, ever evolving and always intriguing and edgy. The space, from what I have seen in the photos below is amazing and has retained the integrity of the original shipyard...with a tugboat motif as the whimsical nod to the space's origin.
Dakota Collective opened on November 20th and is sure to become a key, must-go shopping destination in the OC. I am sure some of you Los Angelenos, will flock as well. Can't wait to get there myself one day soon!!!
~Nancy
Great info. Can also find similar at http://www.walletchains.org
Posted by: Steven Jones | November 03, 2010 at 03:43 PM