Tomorrow morning, the fashion set will be huddled bright and early outside Rei Kawakubo’s newest shopping empire on Lexington Avenue and 30th Street (in, presumably, an enormous line) — until the doors to New York’s very own Dover Street Market finally open at 11 a.m. Then, the fashion gods will unleash glorious pandemonium as style monks, cool kids, and everyone in between enter Kawakubo’s seven-story creative wonderland for the first time.
The New York store in Murray Hill will be Kawakubo’s third Dover Street Market location (following London and Ginza), and the 71-year-old creative mind behind Commes des Garçons has already ensured that tomorrow’s opening will be saturated with big names, shops-within-shops, and exclusive collections from luxury brands. Louis Vuitton, Prada, Visvim, and Andre Walker are among brands that have created exclusive collections for the Dover Street Market opening. Other big names that will be available in-store: A.P.C., Alaïa, Alexander Wang, Ann Demeulemeester, Comme des Garçons (and its offshoots Homme, Shirt, Play, etc.), Christopher Kane, Erdem, Jil Sander, Jonathan Saunders, Junya Watanabe, J.W. Anderson, Nike, Nina Ricci, Raf Simons, Rick Owens, Saint Laurent, Supreme, Thom Browne, and more. In anticipation for the opening tomorrow, click through the slideshow for a first look at some exclusive items.