Flea Market Find
It’s another rags-to-stitches fairy tale. Unknown designer who sews on her couch while watching television takes her clothes to the swap meet in the Fairfax district, gets discovered by a trendy boutique owner, becomes an overnight Los Angeles fashion darling and never gets a full night of sleep again.
Tiffany Alana’s striped, bias-cut one-size-fits-all skirts have been flying out of Lisa Kline’s trendy Robertson Avenue boutique like cotton/Lycra magic carpets. Kline has ordered batches of 40 every other day since the beginning of summer. And despite each skirt’s $175 price tag, shoppers often buy three at a time.
“It wraps you like a burrito,” Kline said. “It holds everything. It’s really flattering, and the stripes are amazing.”
But what really sells it, she said, is the whimsical, kitschy pin attached to each skirt. No two are the same.
“The pins she has are hysterical, and they really dress it up,” Kline said.
Kline also touted the skirts’ versatility.
“At night I wear them with a really sexy cami and high heels and a shawl, and during the day I throw them on with flip-flops and a tank top.”
Customers of all ages have snatched up the skirts, including some of Kline’s more conservative-dressing friends. The retailer said she was surprised by the skirts’ popularity, given shoppers’ tastes over the past year.
“We couldn’t sell a skirt to save our life last year,” she said. “Now people are copying Alana, and we’re buying other people who have a similar vibe.”
Kline has mined talent from the swap meet before.
“That’s where all the people go who are really creative but who don’t have any money,” she said.
As for Alana, the designer is working to keep up with the sudden demand, according to Kline. She has transitioned from producing the skirts as an amateur seamstress to full-scale production.
Still, the skirts remain the only items Alana offers.
“We’re trying to get her to make some other stuff for us, like a tube dress,” Kline said.
—Christian M. Chensvold
