Rodd and Gunn Takes NZ Style to LA

New Zealand menswear label Rodd & Gunn celebrated the soft opening recently of its first Los Angeles store, which joins others in San Francisco and Newport Beach. The focus on California makes sense, said the brand’s chief executive Mike Beagley, because of a shared aesthetic.

“The line is made with European fabrics and interpreted from a Southern Hemisphere point of view,” Beagley said. “It’s more relaxed and understated, which resonates with southern California very well.”

The 167-square-metre store in the Westfield Century City mall was “created with a lot of intimacy,” Beagley said. “There are smaller rooms and high-pitched ceilings so it feels like a luxury lodge.” A video wall streams live images from the brand’s home country. Top-sellers include lightweight jackets and the brand’s signature handmade luggage and briefcases.

Rodd & Gunn was established in 1987 when the first store opened on Auckland’s Queen Street.

Original article by Kavita Daswani, Los Angeles Times, September 7, 2017.

Photo by Nicholas Gingold.