Road to Awe opens flagship store on Melrose Avenue


There are fewer streets in the world that are as effortlessly cool as Melrose Avenue. You can barely walk two minutes without seeing bespoke, boutique stores or vintage shops with one of a kind clothes and zany shop fronts.


It’s no surprise then, that streetwise fashion brand Road to Awe decided to open up its flagship store on this iconic street.

Designed by Los Angeles architect Dan Brunn, AIA, principal of Dan Brunn Architecture, the 1,200 square foot space is impeccably designed to reflect the personality of the Road to Awe brand and fits seamlessly into the Melrose Avenue vibe. The cleverly constructed store won the 2017 Westside Urban Forum Design Honor Award for retail projects.

Road to Awe is co-designed by French-born Eli Azran and LA native David Rimokh. All the clothes are made in Los Angeles for both women and men. The designers harness the belief that clothing should be used as a form of expression and be effortless and chic.

“Designing anything is a process, but designing a store to fit your brand is a talent,” said Rimokh.

“Dan really understood the DNA of the brand and created an environment that reflects our customer culture.” He said.

The renovated building was originally built in the seventies. Brunn has reconfigured the dimensions of the space to create a more cohesive and sculptural experience.

The store front goes against usual shop designs. Small windows, instead of the large, are used to, allow customers a glance of the merchandise inside. The reduced number of windows creates a voyeuristic atmosphere and gives the shop an air of mystery, what is behind the dense façade? 

This air of mystery is heightened by the new “floating” canopy in front of the building and pivoting floor-to-ceiling door that seamlessly blends with the black exterior when closed, giving the customer the impression that they have discovered a secret escape.

Inside the 10-foot-tall space, this dream like vibe continues with a circular interior garden, featuring an olive tree surrounded by grass and a circular bench. The tree is planted under a skylight that mirrors the circle created by the turf and bench, filtering sunshine into the space, creating an oasis for guests to relax in. This introduction of nature reflects the “awe” represented by the fashion brand.


The interior of the store consists of concrete floors, black mirrors, wood surfaces, and blackened steel beams to create a minimalist finish.

Clothing is hung on a clever custom hardware system of suspended roller tracks set into soffits and beams. Hangers can easily slide to reveal the layers of merchandise or be moved aside to accommodate special events.

Custom-designed wooden cases extending to the beams, rotate to reveal mirrors on one side and insets which display books and accessories on the other.

The fitting rooms are located at the back of the store. There is a waiting area designed to act as a catwalk for customers trying on clothes. A long cantilevered bench provides a place for friends to wait and gives them a front row seat to the fashion show!

A large fitting room door swings open to reveal a nine-foot-by-eight-foot mirror, so customers can inspect their new outfit.

The floor, ceiling and floors are clad in ash to create a sleek finish. A back lit ‘T’ takes on the asymmetry of Road to Awe’s logo lower-case letter, further symbolising the brand.








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