Dempsey's a pretty alright place to be if you're hankering after a fancy meal, but the district's about to get a serious boost in fashion cred. Come 2016, COMO Dempsey will debut at 17 and 18 Dempsey Road and features made-in-London retailer, Dover Street Market. The buildings, which came up for tender in August this year, were acquired by COMO Lifestyle, a brand part of the Club 21 and COMO Hotels group.
Dover Street Market, opened by Comme des Garçons' Rei Kawakubo and her husband Adrian Joffe, is much loved for its super sharp edit of brands that include Celine, Erdem, JW Anderson, Maison Margiela, Rick Owens and of course, Kawakubo's own label. The fab fashion multi-label store also frequently collaborates on limited edition collections with brands including UNDERCOVER, Stussy and Tiffany and Co.
While details are still scant on the market's freshest outpost here, you can bet that DSMSG will be a much tinier, scaled-down version of the department stores in London, Ginza, New York and Beijing. After all, the Dempsey buildings are single-storey former British barracks. Plus, news releases on COMO's new store mention that it'll share the space with a restaurant and bar by Michelin-decorated Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Peranakan restaurant Candlenut by chef Malcolm Lee, and a flagship COMO Cuisine, which will serve signature dishes from the hotel group's properties from around the world. After a few relatively quiet years for the atas food district, this new super store might just be what Dempsey needs to revive its sleepy streets. Be very excited.
COMO Dempsey will open at 17 and 18 Dempsey Road in 2016.