In 2016, ALD opened its first physical retail location on Mott St. in New York'sNolita neighborhood. The shop quickly developed a reputation for its strong community, evolving interior, and its mysterious exterior. In 2019, ALD moved to a larger storefront on nearby Mulberry St. The new store gave greater expression to the brand's creative vision and included a living-room style interior evoking classic Parisian homes, an installation from New York artist Tyrrell Winston, as a well as Café Leon Dore, a Mediterranean coffee shop inspired by Santis' Greek roots with outdoor seating.
In June 2019, Jon Caramanica of the New York Times reviewed ALD's Mulberry flagship in his column "Critical Shopper." The piece described ALD as a post-streetwear heritage brand: "In its smart, accessible, post-street-wear clothes, you see the shadow of the first era in which big-tent men’s wear — Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Timberland, L.L. Bean — was forced to reckon with hip-hop, since hip-hop was already reckoning with it. The silhouettes were blocky, the color choices were bold, the fabric weights were substantial, the logos were supersized." The piece concludes with Caramanica observing that "every season, Aimé Leon Dore extends its reach a little further with collaborations. It has worked with New Balance, New Era, Woolrich and Timberland, and Mr. Santis said there would be projects with Paraboot, and also with Drake’s on suits. Each of these exchanges adds something to the brand’s range, allowing it to imagine new, untapped contours of 1994 to explore... Before long, it seems, Aimé Leon Dore will make that crucial leap, the one from seeking out inspiration to providing it."
Collaborations with New Balance
To date, ALD has collaborated with New Balance on three major projects spanning three seasons. Each project has seen ALD deliver its unique take on New Balance's heritage and design in ways which pay homage to life in New York. The inaugural project in April 2019 focused on NB's iconic 997 silhouette; a collection featuring the 990v2 and 990v5 followed in November 2019; and the brand delivered a project featuring the 827 in March 2020.
In February 2020, ALD released the first-of-its-kind ALD 964, a one-of-one custom 1990 Porsche 964 911 Carrera 4 restored with Porsche's blessing and support, the first time they had lended their official backing to a vintage 911 restoration. The project included a video campaign, limited-edition capsule collection, and physical activation at the Deitch gallery on Wooster St. in New York's SoHo district.
Other collaborations
From its founding, Aimé Leon Dore has collaborated on limited edition capsule collections. In 2015, the brand collaborated with Puma on an update of Puma's classic State sneaker. In 2017, Aimé Leon Dore collaborated with KITH on hoodies, t-shirts, pullover sailing jackets, pants, and caps with a nautical theme and anchors, boat paddles, and evil eye iconography inspired by Mykonos. The brand has also collaborated with Woolrich, Suicoke, Timberland, New Balance, New Era, Paraboot, Drake's, and Porsche.
