Worn recently by Keke Palmer and Blake Lively, Kors has just debuted a 1,500-square-foot space on Beverly Hills’ prime shopping stretch: “This new concept has a warm, residential feel,” says the designer.
Michael Kors is back on Rodeo Drive after a nearly four-year hiatus. The new 1,500-square-foot Michael Kors Collection store opened at 242 N. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills on April 18 and is the first North American location to premiere the brand’s new conceptual design for its collection boutiques.
A wide glass door welcomes customers to the street level of the two-floor store — which is done in walnut shelving, antique brass, gold Calacatta marble and oxidized maple — where shoes and handbags from the latest collection are showcased opposite a large video wall. In the lower-level study, the intentionally minimalistic space is decorated in a neutral color palette of grey, white and black. Mannequins are styled in items from the brand’s Spring-Summer 2024 collection, like the black chantilly lace bodysuit ($890) and matching skirt ($2,690) topped with the double crepe sablé boyfriend blazer ($2,290) and the suntan chantilly lace slip gown ($3,890).
“With this new concept, that has a warm, residential feel, the space is both refined and luxurious and becomes a place where you want to spend some time and experience that thrill of discovery you can only get when you’re shopping in a brick-and-mortar store,” designer Michael Kors tells The Hollywood Reporter.
Michael Kors opened its original 3,500-square-foot collection store at 360 Rodeo Drive in 2004 but, like some of its neighbors along the two-mile high-end fashion strip, had to shutter its doors in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The return to the emblematic locale has been nine months in the works, says Kors. It also comes on the heels of news the Federal Trade Commission is set to block a merger between Michael Kors’ parent company Capri Holdings Ltd. and Tapestry Inc., which owns Coach, Stuart Weitzman and Kate Spade brands.
Inside the new Michael Kors store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
Courtesy of Michael Kors
“We have a lot of customers in the Los Angeles area, and when you are talking about glamour, luxury and sophistication, you automatically think Beverly Hills, and at the very center of that is Rodeo Drive,” adds Kors, whose family moved to Beverly Hills in the 1970s.
Michael Kors recently tapped pregnant model Grace Elizabeth for its limited-edition Mother’s Day capsule collection campaign characterized by silver and crystal detailing like that seen on the signature three-inch Tessa Mule ($175). The items stand out amid the brand’s SS24 collection which nearly mimics the color palette of the new boutique with its mix of brown, black, white and gold metallic tones.
Michael Kors Collection Bardot Mini Metallic Python Embossed Leather Hobo Shoulder Bag
“This collection, for me, is inspired by the feeling that we all get when we take a wonderful holiday vacation. It’s about romance, a sense of joy, glamour that feels barefoot and easy, and really something very transportive,” says Kors. “I love all of the fresh crisp white that has this warm-weather glamour. And then the pieces with gold hardware, it’s like we built the jewelry right into your clothes which is perfect when you’re traveling.”
Michael Kors Collection Juliette Metallic Python Embossed Leather Gladiator Sandal
Earlier this month, actress Lea Michele wore a red crepe jersey dress with a gold halter-neckpiece from Michael Kors’ Spring 2023 ready-to-wear collection while showing off her growing baby bump on the red carpet of the 2024 Hope Rising Benefit. Keke Palmer was also spotted in a monochromatic lilac suit and matching blouse from the Michael Kors Collection at a For Your Consideration event for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on April 15. Blake Lively wore a Michael Kors Collection black leather dress in December to celebrate the birthday of BFF Taylor Swift.
This summer, VIP friends of the brand will be invited to a celebration of the new store opening at a private location during the first week of June. The event will include dinner and a special live performance to mark the occasion. Of his return to Los Angeles’ designer fashion mecca, Kors says, “I’m very excited to be back on one of my favorite streets in the world in one of my favorite cities in the world.”
The new Michael Kors store on Rodeo Drive.
Courtesy of Michael Kors