Metro Detroit retail legend Linda Dresner to close Birmingham boutique after 28 years

It's the end of the runway for high fashion retailer and industry icon Linda Dresner, who announced that she'll be closing her Birmingham boutique after 28 years.

According to Downtown Newsmagazine, Dresner's minimalist boutique at 299 W. Maple is currently holding an 80% off sale and is expected to close its doors for good on March 1.

Though Dresner neither confirmed nor denied whether the closure was pandemic-related, this would mark her second shop to call it quits during a substantial financial crisis. In 2008, Dresner opted to close her Park Avenue boutique in Manhattan, citing an increase in rent, to focus her energy and resources on the Birmingham showroom.

“The audience that likes these clothes is large, but it’s not huge in Michigan,” Dresner told WWD in 2008. “We still have a strong signature. We can cope with the ups and downs easier in Michigan.”

Dresner, who opened her first metro Detroit shop within Somerset Mall in 1998, was the first American client of iconic Japanese label Comme Des Garçons, with whom she even collaborated on an exclusive capsule collection. Since championing CDG, Dresner's rotation of designers has included Balenciaga, Vetements, Yohji Yamamoto, Stella McCartney, Junya Watanabe, Yohji Yamamoto, and Jil Sander.

“Linda was known and respected by everyone in the fashion industry,” said Karen Daskas, co-owner of high-end Birmingham boutique Tender told Downtown Newsmagazine. “It's such a loss for fashion and a bigger loss for Birmingham.”

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