Designer Billy Reid opened his first retail space in Los Angeles with a popup store at Platform in Culver City.
The store—the brand’s 15th U.S. location—carries the men’s collection as well as pieces from Billy Reid’s recent Gibson collaboration. It will host events through the end of the year.
“We’ve had a strong customer-base in L.A. for a while, and we’re excited to meet them with a physical space to shop,” Reid said in a statement.
Outfitted in traditional and modern furnishings, antiques and curated art, the space “evokes a feeling of stepping into a friend’s living room.”
The boutique displays artwork by Alabama artist Butch Anthony as well as a large gallery wall of vintage European pieces. A seating area consists of mid-century vintage club chairs and coffee tables, and a custom chandelier made with Tennessee River driftwood. The tables were custom designed in-house using reclaimed white oak and the hanging fixtures are custom-crafted by steel workers.
Though famously Southern, Louisiana-born Alabama-based Reid began his fashion career in L.A., which inspired past collections. “L.A. holds a special place in my heart,” he said, adding that his time spent in the city as a 20something “taught me the value of my perspective as a designer and that leaning into my differences was cool.”
“When I first lived in L.A. I waited tables at Chin Chin on Sunset Boulevard. The big benefit was that I could eat free and see celebrities,” Reid said. “I hung out at places like Gladstones in Malibu on Sundays, The Gaslight in Venice, Christie’s a local bar near our apartment, Formosa Cafe in Hollywood, El Coyote Mexican, and Dukes for breakfast.”
Reid went on to find a job with Wrangler as a sales trainee at the L.A. apparel market and then landed a role with Reebok a month later where he would spend six years, starting as a sale rep in California and later moving into design to work on the Greg Norman and golf collections. He launched his own brand, then named William Reid, in 1998.
Platform, a collection of independent and first-to-market merchants, eateries and creative businesses, is a popular shopping hub for brands testing the L.A. market. German brand Closed opened its first U.S. store at Platform in July.