Plus Dior tees up its golf collection and Balenciaga’s hoop dreams
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL, MARTHA HAYES, DIANE DORRANS SAEKS
Nahmias Launches New Venice Digs
DONI NAHMIAS selected a low-slung Venice space for his namesake label’s first brick-and-mortar boutique, which has windows cut to resemble his square-circle-square logo designed in tribute to Route 101 and PCH. The past year has been a homecoming of sorts for the Santa Barbara native, who is based in Los Angeles. He showed his Spring 2025 menswear collection, Physical Education, at the Pan Pacific Gymnasium on Beverly Boulevard after several seasons on the Paris calendar. The looks hang inside a concrete-and-wood space complete with racks resembling handrails, a parking lot basketball goal, and a half-pipe. The collection is a gritty blend of sportswear and workwear, including perforated leather suits recalling mesh uniforms. “I was reflecting on high school. I was a troubled teen, I did juvie, I did house arrest, all that stuff,” says Nahmias. “I’m telling that story, that transformation to playing basketball, loving to design, the beauty of that transformation.” 1842 Washington Way, Venice, 213-313-0295; nahmias.com. E.V.
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Billy Reid Brings Southern Comfort to Abbot Kinney
BILLY REID, known for his well-constructed yet lived-in designs for men and also women, has opened up shop in Venice on Abbot Kinney. The Louisiana-born designer’s modern decor is assembled in a living room-style shop. His ready-to-wear and accessories are housed beneath exposed trusses, brick walls, polished concrete floors covered with antique Turkish rugs, expansive bookshelves, and an eclectic assortment of art, all with a Southern influence. But despite his lifelong Muscle Shoals proximity, Reid lived in L.A. early in his career and was discovered by Hollywood long ago. Daniel Craig, Idris Elba, and Ryan Gosling have all donned his designs, as have a trove of musicians, including Ryan Hurd and Thomas Rhett. Now the four-time CFDA winner’s fabrics and the detailed craftsmanship of his looks — buttons, thread, and stitches are all carefully considered — have finally followed suit to a new West Coast home. 1351 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, 424-410-7177; billyreid.com. E.V.
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Kiko Kostadinov’s Los Angeles Boutique Is a First Draft
KIKO KOSTADINOV, the London designer known for conceptual menswear whose women’s collection is headed by twin sisters Laura and Deanna Fanning, has landed in the Melrose Hill gallery district in L.A. His label’s first American location, stocked with Spring 2025 men’s and women’s collections, is a production proxy designed by artist Ryan Trecartin. The store’s placeholders include construction scaffolding and behind-the-scenes materials, along with photorealistic plans devised with Rhett LaRue, all part of an installation called Draft Settings. A permanent version will follow, also created by Trecartin with L.A.-based artisans. Eventually, domestic environs with objects, sculpture, and film will emerge, and clothes, bags, accessories, footwear, and collaborations will continue to captivate. 725 N. Western Ave., L.A., 323-380-5157; kikokonstadinov.com. E.V.
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The Fifth Avenue Club Arrives in West Hollywood
SAKS FIFTH AVENUE is partnering with The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills to bring the personal shopping and styling services of The Fifth Avenue Club to a perch overlooking Sunset Boulevard. The new space, complete with an art installation and and in-house beauty counter (both of which are shoppable), is open to locals and hotel guests by appointment. A curated selection of ready-to-wear hanging from suspended clothing fixtures is complemented by pieces pulled for individual appointments set up after an in-person (or virtual) consultation with a Saks stylist. At the space’s center is a dichroic acrylic fitting room, mirroring the shop’s windows also wrapped in the iridescent palette. The new space will also house events, brand takeovers, and private shopping appointments. 1020 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, 310-300-2829; sakswesthollywood@s5a.com; saks.com. E.V.
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Tokyo’s Motofumi “Poggy” Kogi Gets Dressed
Even if you don’t follow @poggytheman on Instagram, chances are you’ve been influenced by Motofumi“Poggy” Kogi. For example, if you’ve ever worn a hoodie under a tweed jacket or paired worn sweaters with a formal suit, you have taken a leaf out of his metaphorical style book. But now you can pick up an actual book: POGGY STYLE: DRESSING FOR WORK AND PLAY (Rizzoli, $60) is a “modern man’s guide to getting dressed” from the Tokyo-based fashion creator, designer, and street-style star. “It might seem odd for someone like me, who has had the honor of publishing a book on fashion, to say this, but I have never considered myself stylish,” he announces in the foreword. And so sets the refreshingly unpretentious tone. In scrapbook-like pages, Poggy reflects on his 30-year relationship with fashion — vintage T-shirts, showstopping hats, so many suits — through candid photos, conversations, and quirky details like the pair of Levi’s he wore for two and a half years without washing. Avoiding the laundry never looked so good. rizzoliusa.com. M.H.
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Jackson Square’s Clever Classics
Casual chic, POLO RALPH LAUREN is a distillation of everything Ralph and his iconic looks, including Colorado Ranch denim jackets. With its stacks of faded jeans, a rainbow of polo shirts, vivid new Polo Play weekend leather bags, and linen jackets, Polo Ralph Lauren is the latest style destination at Jackson Square in San Francisco. Situated in a columned stucco building that dates back to 1851 — the height of the Gold Rush — the store, with its gold-filigree-framed windows and bare brick walls, fits right in. Stop in for old-school tennis shoes, summer-weight cashmere sweaters, knock-about khaki chinos, a patchwork Madras shirt or two, cut-off faded and frayed denim shorts circled with antique Mexican silver belts, and faded bandannas. 441 Jackson St., S.F.; ralphlauren.com. D.D.S.
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Dior Tees Up a Capsule of Fairway Fits
Country club essentials to don in town or on the course make up Kim Jones’s DIOR capsule. Shoes, including the house’s B27 and B33 sneakers, set the tone for the collection with tasseled tongues reminiscent of traditional footwear for an 18-hole round. The looks riff on a preppy aesthetic fit for the fairway, tempered by Jones’ embrace of early ’80s sportswear. There’s a velvet tracksuit and windbreakers with reflective stripes and argyle knits, but also V-neck sweaters, pleated pants, and polo shirts. Casual blazers and Harrington jackets in muted shades of beige add an Ivy League nod as well. Bags and small leather goods with Dior Gravity motifs join two-tone backpacks, Saddle, and Hit The Road messengers, and of course there’s a golf bag for woods, irons, wedges, and putters. That it’s devised in black leather is par for the course. dior.com. E.V.
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Balenciaga Is on a Fast Break
As BALENCIAGA ateliers honed the French house’s much-anticipated Basketball Sneaker derived from archetypal NBA footwear, a capsule of sportswear also took shape. The Basketball Series reimagines sport-knit jerseys and shorts, fleece sweatpants and hoodies, and a variety of on-court and tunnel fit-worthy designs. Oversize by design, there are T-shirts in vintage jersey emblazoned in the house’s Loop logo, embroidered with letters spelling out the brand and numbered 01. A Bomber in semi-shiny black leather with zips and snaps gets similar treatment. There’s a tracksuit in techno poplin and a layered long-sleeve topped with a mesh tank. The accompanying no-lace kicks with hidden zip closures debut in bold metallic hues, the lightest of which includes a decidedly scuffed patina — the look of choice for those with true hoop dreams. balenciaga.com. E.V.
Portions of this story originally appeared in the Spring 2025 and Men’s Spring 2025 issues of C Magazine.
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