The Market Is Open

Dover Street Market Singapore is poised to be retail's beacon of hope

- Asri Jasman

DOVER STREET MARKET SINGAPORE made a spectacular debut. Well ahead of its stipulated opening time of 11am, a snaking queue had already formed along the usually quiet Dempsey Road on Saturday, 29 July.

While it was mostly a gathering of sneakerheads and followers of cult streetwear brands hoping to cop a pair of NikeLab sneakers or get first dibs at the Vans x Anti Social Social Club collaboration, it signalled a promising proposition: there’s hope for Singapore’s retail scene yet.

Dover Street Market (DSM) is the brainchild of the elusive Grand Dame of alternative fashion Rei Kawakubo and her life and business partner Adrian Joffe. The multi-label store started in London’s vibrant Dover Street in 2004 before moving to its current location at the junction of Haymarket and Orange Street, where the original Burberry headquarters used to be. To date, DSM has expanded to New York, Tokyo and a franchise in Beijing. Singapore is its first venture into Southeast Asia.