Our new concept store — a collaboration with Humberto Leon — opened this week on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. The façade and interior feature the work of German photographer Walter Schels, a longtime favorite of Tory’s, whose animal portraits appear in our Resort 2024 collection.

A shag carpet covers the floors and walls, designed to mimic a cat tower. Humberto also commissioned Mexican artist Aranza Garcia of Chuch Estudio, to create strawberry-shaped vases and a series of pink ceramic seats, positioned throughout the space in clusters of nine.

That playfulness is echoed in Humberto’s approach to merchandising the collection. “We’re proposing different ways of wearing and styling clothing, making everything less precious, mixing runway with, for example, fleece,” he says.

“I have long admired Humberto’s creativity,” says Tory, who met Humberto in the early 2000s when he launched Opening Ceremony with co-founder Carol Lim. “I wanted him to feel free to experiment and bring his own point of view to the space, the photography, and the collection. I like the tension of collaborating with someone as creative as he is.”

Tory and Humberto have designed a special Melrose capsule collection of T-shirts, sweatshirts, and totes with abstract Schels portraits of the cat and bunny. Both were on hand this past Wednesday to celebrate the store opening with L.A. friends including Natasha Lyonne, Rashida Jones and Awkwafina.

The boutique will be open through the end of the year at 8483 Melrose Avenue while the Tory Burch flagship on Rodeo Drive is renovated.