The Style Guide — 9 Places Making Melrose Hill Into LA's Hottest Design District

Cities can feel disorienting when you don’t know where to look for the right places, but keeping an eye on standout cultural, fashion, and design locations can help you navigate their streets like those shaping them from within. The Style Guide is the Livingetc column giving you a head start on exploring today’s most influential style metropolises through a selection of hotspots we think you should know about.

Situated at the intersection of Western and Santa Monica Boulevard in East Hollywood, Los Angeles' Melrose Hill neighborhood has recently become a place of pilgrimage for art and design enthusiasts. With new and established galleries setting up shop in the area, including legendary Blue Chip art dealer David Zwirner's latest namesake location, the city's next big thing is currently seeing swathes of creative entrepreneurs, as well as artists and designers, strive to secure a spot in this blossoming locale.

Powered by actor-turned-real estate developer Zach Lasry, Melrose Hill's transformation into one of the culture and hospitality gems of Los Angeles began in 2019, when together with his billionaire father Marc Lasry, he purchased over a dozen of properties in the district with the aim of renovating them and renting them out to independent businesses across the arts, design, food, and nightlife sectors. While the redevelopment's impact on the local community is yet to be assessed, with concerns rising over their inability to withstand the growing cost of living in the district, its cultural relevance can't be ignored.

Fast forward five years, the neighborhood is as buzzy and artistically influential as it has ever been: an Art Deco design paradise, Melrose Hill boasts authentic 1920s buildings like the Quentin Tarantino-owned New Beverly Cinema — one of the region's longest-standing 'revival houses' — and the historical Capitol Records studios. Now joined by the superbly furnished, modern interiors white cubes of galleries such as Morán Morán, Southern Guild, and James Fuentes, and by the sophisticatedly-designed cafes, boutiques, and restaurants springing up overnight in the central LA hotspot, Melrose Hill's architectural landmarks are a fertile ground for creative innovation.

From beautifully curated interior design showrooms to rising fashion labels' art installation-filled flagships, here's everything you should look out for while visiting the area.

1. Hostler Burrows

First established in 1988 by Juliet Burrows and Kim Hostler, Hostler Burrows was born of a love of Scandinavian design, which they championed and promoted globally in the programming of their original Lower Manhattan gallery in Tribeca, New York. Having since grown to incorporate an eclectic roster of contemporary artists working in different mediums, in October 2019 the gallery has expanded to the West through a new, 3,000-square-foot location on Melrose Avenue, designed by architect Linda Taalman.

Paying particular attention to the studio ceramics tradition and the work of women artists, Hostler Burrows' frequent exhibitions pair the creations of avant-garde names from the past with the best of today's art scene to promote an understanding of craftmanship that stands the test of time.

2. Pop Up Home

A design furniture emporium, Pop Up Home is the dream-come-true of Los Angeles-based entrepreneur Tricia Benitez Beanum. One half of UNREPD — the Melrose Hill art space she co-founded with fellow Puerto Rican Sarah Mantilla Griffin in an effort to platform the work of un(der)represented artists and introduce it to potential art collectors — she cut her teeth in the industry sourcing outstanding furniture pieces from estate sales, flea markets, and buyouts, and reselling them to an exclusive cohort of designers and decor insiders in a pop up format.

Having abandoned the nomadic side of her business in favor of a permanent flagship store after the pandemic, the interiors mogul has amassed an objects, artworks, and seating collection stylish enough to initiate anyone to the power of home decoration.

3. forte_forte

Italian siblings-cum-creative collaborators Paolo and Giada Forte, co-founders of the eponymous womenswear house forte_forte, have designed a Los Angeles flagship that blurs the lines between art installation and luxury fashion. Opened in the spring of 2022 at 8424 Melrose Place, forte_forte Los Angeles — one of the brand's 10 worldwide locations — took shape from the dialogue between the female head of the label and Swiss creative director Robert Vattilana. Here, industrial interior design is reinvented for the style-driven customer: conceived as a dialogue with the city of angels, in the shop, 'light and matter, solidity and transparency intertwine, echoing the volumes and lines of California modernism, immersed in blinding sun and desert landscapes,' Vattilana tells me.

Speaking on the boutique's relevance, co-founder Giada Forte points out that 'clothes don't live just for themselves'. 'Not only the choice of the fabric, its shape or shade of color is important,' she adds. 'But so is the atmosphere that surrounds them: we believe garments have a soul and that they reflect all the beautiful contaminations around them.' Borrowing from the craftsmanship tradition of the Fortes' homeland, the flagship features Italian materials and finishes which, further accentuating the contrasting vision at the heart of its design, transport the public to an ethereal dimension. At forte_forte Los Angeles, nature and the indoors coexist, as prove the totemic stone sculpture placed in the middle of the store — a nod to revolutionary artist duo Peter Fischli & David Weiss — and the plaster non-concentric circles inhabiting its ceiling in an homage to the sublime geometrical explorations of artist James Turrell.

4. DITA

Quite literally translating to 'fingers' in Italian, DITA is a luxury eyewear brand headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California. With 12 bespoke flagships scattered across the globe, the premium label enhances its high-quality optical and sunglasses options through boldly designed stores catering to customers looking for a truly unique, immersive, and tailored-made shopping experience.

Stopping off at its dimly lit, minimalist 7625 Melrose Avenue location feels like entering the setting of an action film: think the James Bond saga, only you are the protagonist this time. The brainchild of Laguna Beach natives and childhood friends Jeff Solorio and John Juniper, DITA is for those that don't simply place value on good eyewear, but want their shades to speak about them.

5. AWAY

One of the world's highest-funded, female-run startups, American luggage and travel accessories brand AWAY has one mission: getting you to travel more, better, and in style. Founded by Jen Rubio and Steph Korey in New York City back in 2015, the label prides itself on manufacturing elegantly crafted, durable luggage lasting 'for every trip to come', and more. Backed up by a team of experienced travelers overseeing every step of the house's production, AWAY translates the needs of the contemporary explorer into linear, pastel-shaded bags, suitcases, and accessories imbued with character. Aiming to guarantee every customer a 'seamless journey' from start to finish, its products balance the performativity of robust, (water) resistant materials with the lightness required by long-distance travels.

It is a play of contrast perfectly reflected in their Melrose Hill flagship store, whose naturally lit, mid-century modern furniture-filled interiors elevate AWAY products to artform by highlighting their sculptural feel against the organic wooden, rattan, and chrome finishes of the showroom space.

6. Santa Maria Novella

This classically furnished perfume shop has the power to have you travel back in time, and more precisely to 1221, when Santa Maria Novella was born as a Dominican friars' convent in Florence. Offering a wide range of in-house services including olfactory journeys, skincare discoveries, and product tests, the brand masters the centuries-old art of perfumery like few others in the business — delivering a customer-focused experience centered around individual skin pH levels, fragrance preferences, and reciprocal trust.

Like in a Russian doll, its timelessly packaged perfume bottles, moisturizers, and diffusers are jewels within a jewel at Santa Maria Novella Melrose Hill location: characterized by a bright, familial ambiance, the store’s romantic decor features refined displays of the brand's evergreen bestsellers, elegantly punctuating its many wooden shelves and podiums.

7. New Beverly Cinema

If being home to some of today's most prestigious galleries and art collectives wasn't enough to make Melrose Hill a cultural destination for both creative professionals and budding artists, the district has also got its fair dose of stuck-in-time must-sees. Take the quintessentially Art Deco New Beverly Cinema which, stretching back to the 1920s, still conserves the fascinating aesthetic of its heyday.

Now owned by Oscar-winning director Quentin Tarantino, this nostalgic hotspot, decorated with pastel colors, has endured multiple lives — gradually morphing from vaudeville house, candy factory, and beer parlor into a 'repertory movie haven'. One of the longest-standing revival houses in the region, it screens a monthly programming of both historical and contemporary films largely curated by Tarantino himself, rigorously brought to the public in 35mm film.

8. L.A. Grocery & Cafe

For Caitlin Sullivan, co-founder of the recently opened L.A. Grocery & Cafe, the popularity of Melrose Hill lies in its central location, which has also attracted numerous restaurateurs and foodies to the area. 'We love this neighborhood because it’s the heart of Los Angeles and exists at the intersection of so many neighborhoods in the city,' she tells me. The shop leverages seasonal, farm direct ingredients and sustainably sourced beverages to foster connection. 'We're here to serve our community by providing easy to shop, nutritious, and thoughtfully stocked food at a range of price points,' Sullivan continues.

Feeding into the community of Melrose Hill's thriving creative scene, L.A. Grocery & Cafe does not simply guarantee consistency in the quality of the products it offers — ranging from organic produce, meat, and seafood to specialty goods, wine, and florals — but it also promises 'chef collaborations, events, and seasonal farmers' market specials'.

9. Mother Tongue

No itinerary is complete without a proper meal, and what better way to wrap it up than by dining at a restaurant envisioned by the acclaimed Martin Brudnizki Design Studio? With Paris' Le Grand Mazarin, Portofino's Hotel Splendido, and London-based private members club Annabel's among his latest hospitality projects, Brudnizki knows how to rework local culture and heritage into palatial spaces oozing with character. At Mother Tongue, which is nestled on the fourth floor of 960 N. La Brea Avenue, he has translated the cosmopolitan, soulful, and nourishing approach to food of award-winning American chef Michael Mina into earthy-toned, mid-century seating and lighting fit for a dazzling gastronomic experience.

To do so, 'an eclectic use of materials, patterns, and colors have been layered over the raw, industrial bones of the building, ensuring Mother Tongue reflects the neighborhood in which it stands,' the studio explains. Here, 'Calacatta marble is blended with old English-style molded tiles and a tonal palette of coral, ochre, and vivid turquoise' in a timeless encounter, while diners' attention is captured by the multicultural references abounding on-site, which include 'luscious planting and cool Mediterranean design details such as terrazzo, Murano glass, and contemporary ionic-style columns'. Developed around organic, unprocessed, and sustainable ingredients, the menu too merges the best of multiple European and Asian cuisines into a tasteful journey conceived for the global citizen.

With a surface of over 500 square miles, unearthing the best of Los Angeles while visiting briefly can feel like a lost bet. Start from Melrose Hill to savor the Hollywood feel and immerse yourself in the creative turmoil of an art and design scene on the rise.