Eastside Independents
If Beverly Hills is Los Angeles retail’s prom queen, then Echo Park is the pink-haired punk rocker spiking the punch bowl.
While the northeastern Los Angeles neighborhood may not be posh, it is home to hip boutiques that are prowled by top Hollywood stylists.
Along with neighboring Silver Lake, Echo Park is known for edgy, urban streetwear and funky art clothes. There are two main shopping destinations: the 1500 block of Echo Park Avenue and Sunset Boulevard near the Alvarado Street intersection.
Show Pony, at 1543 Echo Park Ave., was one of the first shops to open in the neighborhood. The store sells mostly one-of-a-kind art clothing.
“We get people who are willing to look different,” said owner Kime Buzzelli, noting that stylists for pop idol Shakira are among her customers.
Currently hot is anything with a silk-screen by graffiti artist Kutma.
“He’s definitely got an ’it’ factor,” Buzzelli said.
Also popular are the appliqueacute; garments of Fancy Pony Land and the pirate and circus influences of the Cotton Candy label, which offers long-sleeved T-shirts with silk-screens of Vincent Price.
“It’s kind of Edward Gorey, gothic girl stuff,” Buzzelli said.
Fashions by Nikki Eatman have “a Bjouml;rk crazy vibe” and are favorites of local stylists, said Buzzelli.
Eighties-inspired fashions are especially hot in Echo Park’s small boutiques, said Leslie Napoles, owner of Tres Flores Shop at 1541 Echo Park Ave.
“There’s a whole slew of young people who didn’t live through it, and that’s why it’s appealing to them,” she said.
Neighborhood locals, she noted, show restraint when dressing the era of Ronald Reagan and the Go-Gos.
“Echo Park is more eclectic,” Napoles explained. “The people who live here don’t go head to toe in all one look. It’s hard to walk down the street among all the families in stilettos and leg warmers.”
Napoles noted that bright colors and clothing by Sarah Cake are big sellers right now at her store.
“She fits in perfectly with what is popular now,” she said.
“It’s cutesy but deconstructed.”
Beauty store Le Pink opened May 17 at 1545 Echo Park Ave. Owner Laura Walden was drawn to the neighborhood because of its growing reputation as an artists’ community— and because she could rent a small space for only $500 a month. Le Pink carries little-known beauty brands such as Treat and luxury Italian toothpaste Marvis, which sells for $8 a tube.
At the corner of Mohawk Street and Sunset Boulevard, one block west of Alvarado Street, is Luxe de Ville. The store offered vintage clothing when it opened six years ago, but it now sells mostly reconstructed art clothes that are scooped up by stylists and Japanese shoppers who resell the items back home, said owner Oskar de la Cruz.
Currently hot are well-tailored Alala miniskirts, which are reconstructed from men’s dress shirts. The heat is also on reconstructed men’s T-shirts by Spank & Spike and bright, gaudy “chandelier” earrings.
Two doors up is Sirens & Sailors, where owner Jennifer Phillips reported a surging interest in ’80s and deconstructed looks. Phillips prefers the deconstruction to be subtle.
“[Designers] will throw a little element of it into a really well-made piece,” she said. “We like it more tailored, with just a raw element somewhere.”
“Stripes for the last three years have been selling nonstop,” she added. “But it’s not conservative and feminine; it has to have some hard, street element to it.”
Phillips said customers are favoring pegged pant legs in lieu of flared versions and coveting polka-dot pumps. Hot brands include Grey Ant and Hayley Starr.
The 800-pound gorilla of Echo Park is Funky Revolution at 2170 W. Sunset Blvd. The spacious store caters to both men and women and is known for its reasonable prices and its focus on local designers who have production capabilities.
Salesperson Rick Jimenez said anything military is hot right now—an amusing irony, he noted, given the strong anti-war stance prevalent throughout the fashion and artistic communities. Stylists for Pink and Christina Aguilera have bought military items at the store, he added.
Jimenez said sleeveless and fringed Tshirts are popular, as are peasant shirts and flared pants. Ditto for bright plaids by Kik Wear and mandarin-collared tank tops in floral and Oriental motifs by Hourglass.
Funky Revolution hopes to open one or two more stores within the year, Jimenez said.
