Guitar Alley's Fashionable New Face
For five years, Margaret Dietl searched Los Angeles for the perfect real estate for her new store. She finally found it in a neighborhood once known for its bad behavior.
“We’re taking a chance,” said Dietl, co-owner of DNA Clothing Co. “We’re urban pioneers.”
Dietl’s second DNA Clothing Co. store is putting down stakes on the 7500 block of West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. It’s a curious choice at first glance because the area has been known since the 1960s as “Guitar Alley.”
The moniker fits because shoppers are more likely to hear impromptu guitar solos blasting out of stores than they are to browse the latest fashions. The Guitar Center at 7425 W. Sunset Blvd. anchors a cluster of more than eight shops specializing in guitars.
While there’s no reason to think the neighborhood’s rock ’n’ roll character will change, fashion boutiques have joined restaurants such as Cheebo in revitalizing the neighborhood, which had been ridden with prostitution until mid-2001, according to Gaston Dominguez-Letelier. He’s the coowner of 13-year-old comic-book shop Meltdown Comics and 4-year-old clothing store Span of Sunset, located at 7522 and 7527 Sunset Blvd.
“In 12 years, it went from hookers and pimps to all of these boutiques peppering the area,” Dominguez said. “It’s wonderful that little stores have come in and succeeded.”
Pop-culture friendly clothes set the fashion trends for the area, where commercial real estate ranges from $2 to $3 per square foot, according to boutique owners. But there’s room for high fashion, too.
Elliot Tommy has been dealing in iconic fashion brands such as Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana since opening Fashion Paige in 1996 at 7445 W. Sunset Blvd.
“Everybody was telling me that you can’t do high fashion here,” Tommy said. “But it’s like a good restaurant. If you serve good food, people will find you.”
The top-selling items in his boutique are men’s tweed jackets with distressed lapels ($250) by Triple 5 Soul Inc., based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Roberto Cavalli’s colorful jeans ($500) are also selling well.
Pop Killer, located at 7503 W. Sunset Blvd., feeds the street’s obsession by selling rock-concert Tshirts— especially those of a classic vintage. A replica of a 1981 concert T-shirt from rock band The Police costs $54. A vintage Guns N’ Roses tee from the early 1990s is $98.
The store also sells its private-label T-shirts ($28), as well as jackets, T-shirts and pants by new Los Angeles designers. Among the offerings are Milton Freewater’s art-driven T-shirts ($54) and military jackets with woodblock prints ($158).
Span of Sunset carries T-shirts with a streetwear spin from local artists .Joker T-shirts ($25), by lowrider artist Mr. Cartoon of Highland Park, Calif., have been top sellers. Another popular T-shirt at that price point comes from Japan-based animation artist Saru.
Jo Bangphraxay opened See Throo in June 2004 at 7561 W. Sunset Blvd. to sell Goth garb and traditional dress from Thailand and Laos. She plans to launch her own retail line, also called See Throo, in Spring 2005.
One top seller at her 1,000- square-foot store is Los Angeles–based Lip Service’s “Drastic Plastic” see-through miniskirt ($58). And because she does business in Guitar Alley, Tshirts are favorites, as well. San Francisco’s Strange Monster label emblazons shirts with images of unusual, but cute characters with a Goth twist ($20).
See Throo’s biggest ethnic seller is Pittsburgh-based Culture Shop. The brand manufactures flowing sundresses constructed out of recycled material from India. The dresses retail for $60, and tops sell for $30.
Bangphraxay said she hopes the neighborhood will keep its independent streak. “I wanted some place that was cool, but unknown. Something I could grow up with,” she said.
The young, rock ’n’ roll feeling of the area reminded Dietl of her first store’s location in Los Angeles’ Venice neighborhood. “It’s like Abbot Kinney but much smaller,” she said.
Other Venice businesses, including restaurant Abbot’s Habit, already are constructing storefronts on this stretch of Sunset.
