Why Xirena's first store had to be part of the Palisades comeback

After 15 years of growing through wholesale and direct-to-consumer alone, Xirena has opened its first store — and it chose a neighborhood still putting itself back together.

Palisades Village, which reopened this year following the 2025 fires, had been on the California brand's list well before the disaster. Co-founder Diedre Roffoni is careful to say the timing didn't drive the decision. Being part of the rebuild, though, mattered.

“As our first-ever retail store, we wanted to open somewhere the brand already had real roots. Opening this year also became our way of showing up for a neighborhood that's rebuilding — being part of that comeback mattered to us,” Roffoni told FashionUnited.

The neighborhood had been one of Xirena’s strongest-performing locations online, Roffoni said. “We knew the customer base was already there. And the way people in that community actually live — easy, effortless, outdoors — is just the California lifestyle Xirena was built around,” she said.

Xirena’s investment in physical retail follows a recent pattern in the fashion industry, where brands want more control over their narrative and customer experience.

“Wholesale and DTC have been great for reach, but neither gives you full control over how the story gets told — the assortment, the environment, the full breadth of the brand in one place. A store lets us show Xirena’s full spectrum in a way a wholesale floor or a website simply can't, and the aesthetic of the space itself becomes another layer of that storytelling — it's not just what we sell, it's how it feels to be in it. This felt like the natural next chapter for the brand rather than a pivot,” she said.

There’s a plan for retail expansion, but the brand will take one step at a time. “We're being deliberate about it. We're not interested in opening stores just to open stores; each one needs to be right for the brand. Ideally we'd like to open roughly one store a year, but realistically that pace also depends on the right opportunities presenting themselves at the right locations. We'd rather move a little slower and get it right than rush the rollout,” Roffoni said.

Xirena’s first flagship store was designed by Montalba Architects. It features artificial skylight made from fabric, hand-carved travertine flooring, and curved textured walls. The space will also host the brand’s seasonal collections. The store officially opened on August 15.