DTLA LIFE MAG #6 | JUNE 2014 | Page 10

PLEASE DO ENTER A new kind of private space, perched on the top floor of the PacMutual building in the heart of historical Downtown Los Angeles, opened its doors to the vibrant Downtown scene. One-of-a-kind progressive people’s luxury retail and exhibition space, Please Do Not Enter invites a particular community to discover an eclectic array of exclusive, carefully selected and timeless contemporary goods. From design to art and fashion, each piece has an unheard-of story that the founders, Nicolas Libert and Emmanuel Renoird, are longing to tell. Please Do Not Enter is the promise of a destination that exceeds today’s luxury consumers’ expectations. It is a door cracked open, daring you to let your curiosity take over a mind well too often eager to follow the herd. In the private space - a refuge from frantic shopping for brands and hype trends - you will discover a genuinely subjective collection, an ode to modern life, where pleasing the eye goes hand in hand with timeless quality and functionality. Leaving Paris for Los Angeles, Nicolas & Emmanuel did not want to bring along just a mere selection of French items. As genuine art collectors, they have been travelling for years around the world and felt inspired by a truly international array of artists and designers. Coming from Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy, Bel- gium, Switzerland, Great Britain, Denmark, the United States and France (!), all the pieces express the singularity of the taste of their “curators” and compose, together, an ‘aesthetic of daily life’. Beyond its formal “perfection” each piece has its own story that discards the ‘onefits-all’ mentality. Neither a gallery nor a traditional retail space, Please Do Not Enter gathers artists and designers that already met a genuine recognition from institutions, museums and selected buyers. Most pieces are either unique or small editions and generally unseen in the United States. From the very beginning, Nicolas & Emmanuel intend to build commissioned projects and site-specific installations outside their exhibition space. One of the reasons they decided to settle in Los Angeles is the unrivaled vitality of the Californian scene. Bringing European artists to build on Los Angeles culture is one of the challenging goals the couple has set for itself in