In 2004, on Mayfair’s Dover Street, Rei Kawakubo, founder of Comme des Garçons, and her husband Adrian Joffe founded a multi-brand retailer that defied expectation — and continues to do so as it flourishes, in vast five-floor glory in its Haymarket home since 2016, while others crumble around it.
While it has evolved into a network of luxury and rising star fashion names spanning New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Paris, Beijing and Los Angeles, its London roots make up the foundations and shoppers here wear their association as a badge of honour.
“It’s kind of miraculous to make it to 20,” says Joffe, the president. “Slowly but surely we are getting the message across about how important physical stores are.”
Here, those that know it best reflect on a spectacular two decades.
Craig Green, designer
I first visited DSM in 2010 when I was a student at Central St Martins. It has been so integral in launching the careers of so many London creatives. My favourite memories have been installing displays over the past decade; from our first window with a giant blue octopus to tarpaulin frogs and fish, latex lighthouses and massive sea defence rock towers in cages. The freedom to experiment is what makes DSM such a special place — and why I love working with them still.
Daphne Guinness, musician
It is the epitome of cool, and the opposite of corporate! My funniest recollection is when I was developing my own fragrance with Comme des Garçons. I once visited Adrian [Joffe] with my bakhoor burner and a blow torch. I set it up on the shop floor and started burning charcoal, bakhoor and oud. Adrian looked more than a little surprised…
Stephen Jones, milliner
It was big, big news that it was going to open and I had heard that it was going to be based on Rei’s visit to Kensington Market in the Seventies. I had been there as well and I was fascinated to know what it was going to be like. It’s the coolest shop in the world, and it happens to be in London. My advice: get to know the staff, they are fascinating.
Charlie Casely-Hayford, designer
Dover Street Market isn’t just a store; it’s an institution. It redefined retail by creating a space where creativity is celebrated, from the curation of pieces to the artful installations. It’s a reflection of London itself — dynamic, bold and unapologetically forward-thinking. On my first day I instantly recognised that I was working alongside some of the best characters in town. No two members of staff were the same, it was the perfect reflection of London’s international spirit … I remember Mick Jagger coming into the basement where I worked, and I put on These New Puritans on our music system, thinking he’d be into it. As I was bringing over his shoe size, he said the music was too loud and could I turn it down … not quite the reaction I was expecting from one of our greatest rock stars.
Molly Goddard, designer
I remember first visiting as a teenager with my best friend Tom and thinking it was the coolest place in the world. Since then, I recall one evening when I drank too much wine at an open house and was interviewed by Love magazine in the lift … I gave the most embarrassing/odd answers to their questions.
Kim Jones, designer
It was just so exciting to be able to see all of these designers under one roof; the only place you could do this. It’s a lifeline of support to young London talent, too. Adrian and Dickon Bowden, the vice president, support so many people through DSM — they need a medal for it. My tip is to start at the top and work down.
Angela Hill and David Owen, founders of IDEA books
Dover Street has such a big link to the past; to the old London before the chain stores and coffee shops. DSM is as inspiring and infuriating as a whole street of idiosyncratic Eighties shops. We remember David Beckham shopping for sneakers in the old store basement, and suddenly, every other male customer was at the counter loudly declaring, “I’ll take three of these”.
Grace Wales Bonner, designer
I used to go to DSM as a student to look at who they were buying and admire the finishing of different products (before I could afford to buy anything). DSM is a special, independent-minded home for fashion in the city.
Isabella Burley, journalist
I was 16 years old the first time I went to Dover Street Market and it completely blew my mind. For a fashion-obsessed teenager, it was just everything — total creative expression. I started working there a year later, when I was 17, and it was the best five years of my life. I still call it my education because it really opened my eyes to so many designers and new ways of thinking. The creativity was unparalleled — and still is!
Simone Rocha, designer
It’s the original that feels like it could only be born in London, and now London and everywhere in retail wouldn’t be the same without it. A special moment was when we installed our first window on Dover Street. It was a living green sculpture representing the lane behind my house in Dublin.
Dickon Bowden, Vice President, DSM International
On the day before we opened back in 2004, we carried a huge piece of furniture that we made with Hedi Slimane up three flights of stairs with 10 builders, only to find it didn’t fit … and carried it back down again. Not the only drama. I also remember unloading a life-size elephant with a crane from a truck early one morning to the amazement of the Mayfair community. She now lives in Tokyo at Dover Street Market Ginza and is an iconic part of the store.
A$AP Nast, rapper
I’ve been going to DSM for so long now, but I do remember my first time going to DSM here in London when it was on Dover Street, there was an event going on and I also remember Michèle Lamy being in attendance, and I was pretty excited to see her there lol. It’s the one place where you know you could go and find all the finest things one could buy and see the most stylish team/staff to greet you as you enter and exit.
Solange Azagury-Partridge, jewellery designer
I feel so proud that I was DSM’s first-ever window display, with the legendary Michael Howells, we recreated a gorgeous version of the interior of my then-shop on Westbourne Grove. Lots of red velvet and beautiful jewellery cabinets. Visitors are guaranteed to find items they won’t find anywhere else. Art and originality are imbued in every bit of it. The London DSM is an original landmark worth a visit for Londoners as well as tourists.
20 years of Dover Street Market: A visual history
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