Yahoo Lifestyle Atlas, a New Launchpad for Indie Designers, Opens at Westfield Century City
There are few surprises hidden within malls in 2025. With retail spaces hard to come by in Los Angeles, and rents high, more often than not it’s global brands that can afford to occupy floor space at prime locations such as Westfield malls — specifically, in Century City. But Atlas, a nascent retail collective and brand incubator, is aiming to change that with the arrival of its first brick-and-mortar store.
The store opens Friday at Westfield Century City, and brings with it a bevy of indie brands that will be offered for the first time in a retail setting. Occupying a 3,116-square-foot space formerly held by Lululemon, on the second floor of the mall a stone’s throw from Eataly and Macy’s, Atlas offers a mix of menswear, womenswear, jewelry, skin care, fragrance, and gift items — all sourced from rising designers and small-batch artisans, with half of them hailing from California and the rest based across the U.S. or internationally.
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Only a year old in conception, Atlas was inspired by the founder and chief executive officer Andrew Buxton’s trips to maker’s markets in the Bay Area when he was a student at the University of California in Berkeley.
“I would always see so many cool up-and-coming brands, I was like, ‘How come you never really see them in these big retailers like Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s?’” Buxton told WWD. “I started speaking with brands there and they all said the same thing: Rent is way too expensive, and big department stores take such a high percentage in wholesale that [the brands] don’t make money, and see it as more of a marketing expense. So that’s how Atlas got started: I wanted to help up-and-coming brands get into high-end retail.”
Among the store’s initial offerings: hoodies from Surf Trip Supply, hats by Donny Diaz, tailored dresses from Aisol, and viral beauty products from Kikiz Cosmeticz. In addition to sourcing largely handmade and sustainably made products, there’s another through thread at Atlas: Many of the brands stocked by the retailer are being created by young founders, which is personal for 19-year-old Buxton, who manages the company along with Lily Koen, chief operating officer.
“A lot of the brands are founded by young founders, and that’s one of the cool things because I’m a young founder too,” Buxton said, name-checking Kikiz Cosmeticz founded by Makena Quesada, which “started when she was 19, making everything out of her house” and “became super popular on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube,” and Myla Active, an activewear label out of South Australia that’s helmed by a tennis player and college student. “We want to be able to uplift them, really see what their brand can do.”
For young brands trying to break into retail, the appeal of Atlas isn’t just reaching shoppers at Century City, it’s also the opportunity to adapt their offerings and business models in real-time based on shopper habits. “We want to give the power back to the brands,” Buxton explained. “They’re in charge of what they want to put in their section and price points — to really experiment, because being in Century City, there’s so much foot traffic, and so many people are constantly coming in and out.”
The brands’ stories are woven throughout the store’s design, whether through the art — which consists of photography taken by some of the founders (along with Buxton) — or the plaques placed throughout the store that educate shoppers about the designers’ missions.
“We’re adding personal touches to it,” Buxton said, reflecting on the “coastal, timeless aesthetic” in the store. Oak display shelves, wood-encased clothing racks, and large wooden tables throughout the space lend warmth and provide a backdrop for clothing merchandised with an earthy palette that’s rife with neutrals and forest green. “We wanted it to be an inviting, cozy space,” Buxton added.
While in today’s digital climate many new retail concepts launch online first and focus on brick-and-mortar after having built an audience, Atlas is upending that formula. The company, set on bringing discovery back to retail, does not have an e-commerce launch currently planned, but Buxton is already thinking about future locations at Westfield Valley Fair or Westfield UTC — and, down the line, New York and Miami.
For now Atlas, which has investments from Guitar Hero cofounder Charles Huang; founding partner of Mentors Fund Umair Khan, and cofounder of Lime Brad Bao, is prioritizing the growth of its brands. “We really don’t want to limit our partner brands,” Buxton shared. “We’re meant to be like a springboard, or almost like an incubator to help them, whether they want to extend with us or get their own store in the future.”
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