For their third Rubin&Chapelle California boutique, Sonja Rubin and Kip Chapelle selected a uniquely special location: Melrose Hill, a stretch between Koreatown and Little Armenia that is at the heart of Los Angeles’s emerging art and design district with famed David Zwirner gallery as its neighbor. It makes perfect sense for the CFDA member brand which prides itself on a sustainable ethos for designs that speak to a sophisticated clientele, including many from the art world.

Rubin explained that the brand was always “as part of a broader creative dialogue. Being in this art corridor allows us to explore the intersection of fashion and contemporary art in a thoughtful, grounded way.”

To that end, the designers’ first foray, for example, was with Konrad Fischer’s Okey Dokey gallery.

The 4,000 square foot space indeed feels artistic with nods to the duo’s West Chelsea studio. It features brick walls, raw steel display cases, and celestial-esque garment racks. Made-to-measure items are offered alongside ready-to-wear.

“The objective was to bring together the intimacy of an atelier with the openness of an exhibition space,” Chapelle said.

“We love the energy of this evolving neighborhood,” he added. “It’s reminiscent of our first store opening in the Meatpacking District in 2002 when it actually still had meat. The neighborhood’s creative energy is palpable, from the galleries and architecture to the way people express themselves.”

The duo is also behind R&C Projects, which welcomes artists to exhibit in our spaces and collaborate. The new store will feature the work of such artists as Aura Rosenberg, Tamar Halpern, Wolfgang Stiller, Atalay Yavuz, Kottie Paloma, and Mia Enell and collaborations with Marcel Odenbach, Berta Fischer, Joseph Montgomery, Steven Rose, Kara Walker and Semjon HN Semjon.

As Chapelle put it, “We wanted to create a space that speaks to both fashion and art.”

Mission accomplished!