There are few surprises hidden inside malls in 2025. With retail areas onerous to come back by in Los Angeles, and rents excessive, as a rule it’s international manufacturers that may afford to occupy ground area at prime places corresponding to Westfield malls — particularly, in Century Metropolis. However Atlas, a nascent retail collective and model incubator, is aiming to vary that with the arrival of its first brick-and-mortar retailer.
The shop opens Friday at Westfield Century Metropolis, and brings with it a bevy of indie manufacturers that will probably be provided for the primary time in a retail setting. Occupying a 3,116-square-foot area previously held by Lululemon, on the second ground of the mall a stone’s throw from Eataly and Macy’s, Atlas provides a mixture of menswear, womenswear, jewellery, skincare, perfume, and reward objects — all sourced from rising designers and small-batch artisans, with half of them hailing from California and the remaining primarily based throughout the U.S. or internationally.
Solely a yr previous in conception, Atlas was impressed by the founder and chief government officer Andrew Buxton’s journeys to maker’s markets within the Bay Space when he was a pupil on the College of California in Berkeley.
“I’d all the time see so many cool up-and-coming manufacturers, I used to be like, ‘How come you by no means actually see them in these massive retailers like Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s?’” Buxton informed WWD. “I began talking with manufacturers there and so they all mentioned the identical factor: Lease is method too costly, and large department shops take such a excessive proportion in wholesale that [the brands] don’t become profitable, and see it as extra of a advertising and marketing expense. In order that’s how Atlas acquired began: I needed to assist up-and-coming manufacturers get into high-end retail.”
Among the many retailer’s preliminary choices: hoodies from Surf Journey Provide, hats by Donny Diaz, tailor-made clothes from Aisol, and viral magnificence merchandise from Kikiz Cosmeticz. Along with sourcing largely handmade and sustainably made merchandise, there’s one other by means of thread at Atlas: Lots of the manufacturers stocked by the retailer are being created by younger founders, which is private for 19-year-old Buxton, who manages the corporate together with Lily Koen, chief working officer.
“A whole lot of the manufacturers are based by younger founders, and that’s one of many cool issues as a result of I’m a younger founder too,” Buxton mentioned, name-checking Kikiz Cosmeticz based by Makena Quesada, which “began when she was 19, making all the things out of her home” and “grew to become tremendous standard on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube,” and Myla Energetic, an activewear label out of South Australia that’s helmed by a tennis participant and school pupil. “We would like to have the ability to uplift them, actually see what their model can do.”
Atlas’ Century Metropolis retailer.
Courtesy of Atlas
For younger manufacturers making an attempt to interrupt into retail, the enchantment of Atlas isn’t simply reaching customers at Century Metropolis, it’s additionally the chance to adapt their choices and enterprise fashions in real-time primarily based on shopper habits. “We wish to give the facility again to the manufacturers,” Buxton defined. “They’re in control of what they wish to put of their part and worth factors — to essentially experiment, as a result of being in Century Metropolis, there’s a lot foot visitors, and so many individuals are consistently coming out and in.”
The manufacturers’ tales are woven all through the shop’s design, whether or not by means of the artwork — which consists of pictures taken by among the founders (together with Buxton) — or the plaques positioned all through the shop that educate customers in regards to the designers’ missions.
“We’re including private touches to it,” Buxton mentioned, reflecting on the “coastal, timeless aesthetic” within the retailer. Oak show cabinets, wood-encased clothes racks, and enormous picket tables all through the area lend heat and supply a backdrop for clothes merchandised with an earthy palette that’s rife with neutrals and forest inexperienced. “We needed it to be an inviting, cozy area,” Buxton added.
Whereas in right this moment’s digital local weather many new retail ideas launch on-line first and deal with brick-and-mortar after having constructed an viewers, Atlas is upending that components. The corporate, set on bringing discovery again to retail, doesn’t have an e-commerce launch at the moment deliberate, however Buxton is already fascinated by future places at Westfield Valley Honest or Westfield UTC — and, down the road, New York and Miami.
For now Atlas, which has investments from Guitar Hero cofounder Charles Huang; founding accomplice of Mentors Fund Umair Khan, and cofounder of Lime Brad Bao, is prioritizing the expansion of its manufacturers. “We actually don’t wish to restrict our accomplice manufacturers,” Buxton shared. “We’re meant to be like a springboard, or virtually like an incubator to assist them, whether or not they wish to prolong with us or get their very own retailer sooner or later.”