D.S. & Durga Abbot Kinney

D.S. & Durga Abbot Kinney is the 3rd collaboration between the lead designer and owner. Friends who both studied architecture, the partnership began with the first store in Nolita in downtown New York City and very much reflected the downtown punk feeling of the brand. In approaching the design for the newest store in Los Angeles, both immediately thought of visionary 20th-century modernist, John Lautner. “Opening a store in Los Angeles is a homecoming for me as a designer. It is where I studied architecture and first experienced the work of the great California modernists - Neutra, Schindler, and especially Lautner, whose work inspired the sculptural ceiling a focal element in the store. We used the same signature materials from our New York stores but added some warm woods and sandier tones to announce our arrival in Los Angeles,” says the co-founder of D.S. & DURGA. The designers were tasked with designing the California location to contrast the urban palette and finishes found at the previous New York locations, while still maintaining the fragrance house’s identity through similar aesthetics. This includes analogous uses of poured concrete that evoke rammed earth, as well as acrylic pyramid stud finishes that back the wall displays. Influenced by Coachella Valley’s Elrod House by John Lautner, an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, the design is in dialogue with the colors and textures found in Southern California. A Lautner-inspired monumental sculptural ceiling in a cementitious finish creates a feeling of volume and openness, while curved walls create distinct areas within the space and distinguish transactional areas like the POS area without cutting off the flow movement. Earth tone colors and textural elements such as trowelled wall and ceiling finishes compliment the graphic grain found in Douglas Fir, a wood used in accents and shelving throughout the space. Together the design elements create a warm and inviting space that emphasizes D.S. & DURGA’s brand motto, “Perfume is Armchair Travel.”.