Dubai Welcomes Les Benjamins’ First Store

Serving as a creative hub for the youth, Les Benjamins, the regional leading contemporary fashion brand, welcomed its first flagship store in Dubai. Located at the Mall of the Emirates and spread across 213-square-feet, the minimalist design-led space delivers a testament to the brand’s long-time relationship with the artistic community in the UAE.

Founded by Bunyamin Aydın, Les Benjamins’ creations convey an aesthetic philosophy that translates local stories, deep-rooted cultural influences, and rituals into the craftsmanship of comfort. By embracing exploration through touching into cultural landscapes with a style, Aydin, the brand’s creative director, manages to defy cliché and fuels at the same time the eager to discover and rethink the unknown.

A modern heritage

Despite the challenging Covid-19 related travel restrictions, he had joined forces with the renowned architect Dong-Ping Wong, founder of Food New York, the firm behind Yeezy’s Calabasas studio, and Les Benjamins Istanbul flagship store, to conceive the space through a combination of Google Maps and Zoom.

“I wanted to give a nod to our heritage, but in a contemporary setting, so we used concrete to connect with steel, giving it a balance between old and new. It’s about the juxtaposition of both ideas”, says Aydin. “Les Benjamins Dubai is about contrasts: old and new, open and intimate, gleaming and earthen”, adds Wong. “We used a traditional plaster technique most directly seen around the souks and structures of Old Dubai to balance out the classic luxury, glossy materials of both the mall and new Dubai as a whole. It's a material with history, depth and texture, interspersed with reflective, graphic and neon details. To create intimate spaces within a totally open floor plan, we looked to the Basilica Cistern in Old Istanbul, the city where Les Benjamins is from”.

The voice of the youth

With a turntable located in the center of the store, and a sound set up designed by Devon Ojas - accompanied by a selection from Aydin’s personal vinyl collection - the store also houses a Max Lamb-designed co-working space for young creatives.

“We’ve always had a warm welcome from the region” affirms Aydin, “especially as we’re unified in our vision of spreading a progressive Eastern movement. I’m always interested in amplifying the voices of the youth in the Middle East”.

Carrying a mixture of menswear and womenswear as well as accessories, multi-brand sneakers, home goods, slippers, slides, and swimwear - Les Benjamins Dubai launches with a limited edition drop of 10 signature tracksuits in fresh colorways, as well as a 100-piece limited run of collectible numbered Dubai launch tees.