Crooks & Castles Brings Streetwear to Melrose
Los Angeles–based streetwear label Crooks & Castles will get its own retail manor. On Dec. 7, the label will open its first store on one of Los Angeles’ premier fashion streets.
With a two-level, 1,100-square-foot store at 8021 Melrose Ave., Crooks & Castles will be adjacent to high-profile boutiques for Adidas and Antik Denim and a neighbor of established retailer Fred Segal Melrose.
The Crooks & Castle store opening has been highly anticipated, according to Aaron Levant, president of the streetwear-savvy Agenda trade show.
“They haven’t been around for a long time. Those guys have been extremely successful,” he said.
When the Crooks & Castles store opens, Melrose will join Los Angeles’ Fairfax Avenue as a streetwear retail hub. The label’s store will be on the same Melrose block as other highly anticipated streetwear stores. A boutique for DC Shoes is scheduled to open at 8025 Melrose Ave. in December. Japanese streetwear brand A Bathing Ape is planning to open a store at 8001 Melrose Ave.
The Crooks & Castles boutique will provide more than a proverbial castle for the brand, said Dennis Calvero, co-owner and creative director for the label. He said he hopes to turn it into a showcase for the label as it makes the leap to becoming a lifestyle brand. There’s also a plan to open more stores. (One location might be in Las Vegas.)
The Melrose boutique will tantalize streetwear aficionados with exclusives, such as Crooks’ 8021 line of streetwear, which will only be available at the store.
The boutique will of fer the brand’ s T-shirts, caps and hoodies, which have a price range from $30 for T-shirts to $300 for some outerwear.
Calvero also designed the store to be a place where people can view their light and their dark sides. The west side of the store will be shaded in darker colors, and a mirror will be tinted with dark glass. The second floor of the store will be devoted to a bookstore and a VIP room.
Calvero worked as a designer for New York–based Ecko Unlimited from 2004 to 2005. He left the company to devote his time to Crooks & Castles. Calvero said one of the label’s inspirations is gangsta/street looks of the late 1980s, but the line is not intended to look dangerous. “We want a universal appeal,” he said. —Andrew Asch
