Project Details
- Project Name
- Frankie
- Location
-
1129 E. 5th St
CA
- Architect
- Bureau Spectacular
- Project Types
- Retail
- Shared by
- hanley wood, llc
- Project Status
- Built
Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
The interdisciplinary Los Angeles-based architecture and design practice, Bureau Spectacular, unveiled their latest design on Friday, September 9th with the launch of the flagship store for high-end and ready-to-wear line, Frankie.
Formerly known as Frankie B., founder and chief creative, Kevin Chen, has re-launched the brand under the moniker Frankie in a one-of-a-kind retail space in the Downtown Arts District designed by Bureau Spectacular's Founding Partner, Jimenez Lai. Lai also designed the exterior graphic on the building’s historic façade.
The innovative store interior has been outfitted with one of the firm’s iconic Super-Furnitures, a structure too small to be a building but too large to simply be a piece of furniture. The nine-piece, 28-foot-long modular staircase when assembled accommodates activities such as seating, a fashion runway or a performance stage. When disassembled, each one of the nine modules is designed to meet the needs of retail functionality, from product display to fitting rooms to storage and transactions.
The vision behind the store's design takes inspiration from an earlier project of Lai’s entitled Briefcase House —a house within a house located inside a 1,400-square-foot Chicago warehouse loft. It also references Speechbuster / 99 Chairs, a sculpture that operates as both furniture object and performative space.
The 2,000-square-foot multi-dimensional retail space will feature products from the Frankie line, as well as fragrances, candles, accessories, and books from other companies. In addition to its role as a retail store, Frankie will act as an incubator and collaborative center for fashion and design talents across the globe.
Frankie is located at 1129 E. 5th St. in the Downtown L.A. Arts District.