Oscar De La Renta is keeping up with its summer pop-up boutique trend as it opens one at the Montecito Country Mart after opening a temporary boutique in Newport some time back. This pop-up will last longer as it is set to stay throughout August 2018 and will highlight the rustic effect this independent retail collective promises.
The 1150 square feet store was designed by interiors specialist Jeang Kim, the sister of Laura Kim, who is Oscar de la Renta’s Co-Creative Director. It offers the collective’s ready-to-wear, shoes, handbags, kidswear collection and accessories from the pre-fall and fall 2018 collection. It will also include exclusive pieces from the Oscar de la Renta x Morgenthal Frederics sunglasses and also the Mykonos capsule collection which encompassed several resort-wear tunics, kaftans, swimwear and beach accessories inspired by the Greek island.
This step is also to support the town’s recovery measures after it was hit by life-devastating mudslides in January 2018 as ten per cent of the entire sales from the store will go for the benefit Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade, one of the many organizations dedicated to the restoration of local properties.
Confirming the news, the Chief Executive Officer of Oscar de la Renta, Alex Bolen stated, “With the continued success of our boutique on Melrose Place in West Hollywood and our wholesale partners throughout the state of California, it makes tremendous sense for us to join our customer in Santa Barbara. Most of our retail business is based on local customers and we try to make connections in communities where our customers are. The Country Mart is a different tenant mix for us, but it very much services the local community and is hopefully an opportunity to get tourists as well. We can stock it from our Los Angeles boutique, the same way we do in Mykonos with our Athens store.”
In order to put the spotlight on the new store, the collective was one of the key sponsors for the annual garden benefit event, Lotusland Gala in Santa Barbara, where the collection pieces from Fall and Pre-fall 2018 graced the ramps of the lush Lotusland gardens. It witnessed several big influencers from the industry like Garance Doré, Chriselle Lim, Marianna Hewitt, Brittany Xavier and Dani Song.
