Isabel Marant

Los Angeles, USA

Photo © John Linden

Architects: Montalba Architects, Inc.

Location: Los Angeles, USA
Year: 2012

For only her second US boutique, Montalba Architects was selected as the Executive Architect, alongside Isabel Marant's in-house design team and Parisian architects Franklin Azzi Architecture, to create a space that feels simultaneously luxurious and laid back, the perfect blend of California modern and French bohemian. The gallery-like front-of-house takes advantage of the original wood structure, inserting several linear skylights between framing members, and bringing natural light deep into the interior. The large restored vertical-sliding windows reinforce the indoor-outdoor connection, opening up to a vast landscape of local desert plantings and wood decks. Inside, plywood paneling opens to reveal display nooks, or remains closed for art installations or to create a simple lounge area. Concrete floors and vintage lighting continue through to the tucked-away main retail floor and on to the back-of-house offices.