The American designer returned to the city he once called home to toast his new West Coast flagship
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
Photography Courtesy of BFA for THOM BROWNE
For Thom Browne, May was a whirlwind. He opened his long-awaited West Coast flagship on Melrose Place with a cocktail party on Wednesday, May 28, followed by a dinner at Chateau Marmont on Thursday, May 29. Weeks earlier, he dressed 21 guests in custom couture-like designs for the Met Gala in New York, including Whoopi Goldberg’s top hat and tailored dress, Demi Moore’s sculptural gown in the shape of a knotted black tie embroidered with more than 1.4 million beads, Lorde wrapped in an extended cummerbund, and Walton Goggins enveloped in an inside-out overcoat and pleated skirt.
Moore’s dress was on display at the L.A. opening, and a closer look revealed a dimple effect sewn into the waist, just below the knot. Browne is meticulous with such details, and guests sipping cocktails got a first glimpse at his latest creations behind the new boutique’s mini blinds. The designer lived in L.A. for a period during the 1990s, and he sought out an ideal neighborhood for the new flagship, waiting for the right space. A post–Memorial Day opening meant a store filled with all the striped American sportswear staples and shrunken suits Browne continues to perfect, as well as summer whites and plenty of seersucker trousers, shorts, pleated skirts, and sport coats.
On hand for drinks, dressed in Browne’s tailoring, were Dree Hemingway, Rocky Barnes, Elaine Welteroth, Ava Capri, CeCe Wu, Courtney Trop, Emma Pasarow, Lisa Love, Jordan Firstman, Oliver Muhl, Meeka Hossain, and Courtney Mawhorr. They all gathered at the 2,000-square-foot shop where men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, bags, and all the necessities for suited types, including ties and belts, joined an array of shoes, from sneakers and loafers to brogues and wingtip pumps. Also on view, perhaps in a nod to the brand’s new proximity to Hollywood, was a strapless dress in white duchess satin embroidered with pink crystals, beads, and silk thread in a gingham pattern, paired with a matching silk gazar capelet, all worn by Ariana Grande to the L.A. premiere of Wicked. Now that Browne is back in town, a renewed embrace of tailoring is already underway.
June 6, 2025
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