In East Hampton, Flamingo Estate and Mytheresa Open a Retail Haven Inside an Auto Body Shop

Candace Bushnell, Martha StewartJoe Schildhorn/BFA.com

During his 20 years at the helm of the Chandelier Creative agency, Richard Christiansen spent his tenure deeply entrenched in “brand.” As a hired gun for the likes of Versace, Comme des Garçons, and Nike, he became uniquely skilled at shaping the ethos a product, service, or a singular person emits through the strict and deliberate crafting of imagery, language, colors, and even scents.

In his second act as the proprietor of Flamingo Estate, launched in March 2020 alongside his partner Aaron Harvey, Christensen has crafted a world that extends far beyond the 7-acre property in Los Angeles that bears the company’s name. A self-described “source for consciously sourced pleasure,” Flamingo Estate offers a range of the fabulously decadent (jars of honey for $250 hailing from the gardens of notable names including Julianne Moore, Will Ferrell, and Ai Wei Wei) to the hilariously banal (like a 9 lb bag of manure, available for $75—local delivery only).

The company’s unique position at the cross-section of clean, healthy living and over-the-top yet conscious consumption made them a fitting collaborator for luxury fashion retailer Mytheresa. Together, they opened the doors to the Summer Body Shop last night in East Hampton, a weekend shopping destination housed inside a former mechanic’s workshop. The smell of rubber still hangs in the air thanks to a wall of tires, though it mingles with Flamingo Estate fragrances like Clarity and Euphoria, and from the wrench to the oil drums comes entirely awash in the signature shade of Flamingo Estate pistachio green. In the center sits the pièce de résistance, a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, also green, sourced by Ferdi Porsche, the great-grandson of the carmaker’s founder. Its California vanity plate? FLAMINGO.

Peppered throughout are the designer confections Mytheresa is known for, with an emphasis on the breed of luxurious holiday accessories one might purchase, albeit a little impulsively, while on vacation at the beach. Lest we forget, the shop is just a 5-minute drive away from miles of sun-drenched beachfront; a fitting home for a Self Portrait-rhinestone beach coverup, or a pair of Chloé x Teva strap sandals, or a Loewe basket tote.

Touring the just-opened space at last night s opening event cohosted by Mytheresa’s Heather Kaminetsky were Bobbi Brown, Sarah Hoover, and Charlotte Groeneveld. Also there were Hannah Bronfman and Brendan Fallis, who welcomed their second baby Claude just a few weeks prior, and Jenné Lombardo and Harvey Newton-Hayden, who left the celebrations with many a candle and kale chips. However, no guest garnered more buzz than Martha Stewart, a long-time Flamingo Estate evangelist who snapped photos and shopped without abandon and admired the Lewis Miller Design floral arrangements that filled the chic space.