Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent
Cooper Design Space, suite 215 (213) 236-0555
A new line. A new beginning. A new showroom.
That has been the agenda for designer Cynthia Vincent, who last April launched her contemporary line, Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, after shuttering the St. Vincent label and leaving the Vince line.
When Vincent and business partner Natasha Silver were checking out showroom spaces, they felt that uncharted territory was the way to go.
“Cynthia has always been a designer that thinks out of the box, and this showroom is an extension of that,” said Silver, director of sales, sitting inside the spartan showroom, which is a study in black and white.
Stark white walls and a white ceiling surround the spare deacute;cor of long black tables and gray chairs. Light streams in through large windows.
When Silver moved to the building’s second floor last August, there were only two other showrooms. Now there are 12 in all. Most adhere to a creative look.
Twelfth Street is named after the street that Vincent grew up on in La Verne, Calif.
The former president of the Coalition of Los Angeles Designers initially was only going to do a line of pants. But when Mercedes- Benz Shows L.A. accepted her last April, she needed tops to go with those pants. Now the line incorporates everything, from pants to dresses and skirts that wholesale for $70 to $215.
The collection comes in four groups: Gym, casual and comfortable silhouettes done in jerseys; Uniform, everyday pieces one can just throw on; Work, structured, tailored designs; and Out, dressy styles for going out in the evening.
“Our typical customer is a young sassy girl and also a woman in her 40s who is sophisticated and wants to feel feminine,” Silver said.
The Spring 2004 collection is dubbed “Prim and Improper.” It consists of butterfly-sleeve tops, seethrough metallic tunics embellished with floral embroideries, silk-knotted dresses and chiffon tops. One of the best Spring sellers has been a vintage crinkle-silk chiffon polka-dot ruffle skirt that wholesales for $195, Silver said.
One of the advantages of working in the Cooper Design Space is the laissezfaire attitude toward the canine population, Silver said. “Everybody brings their dog to work,” she said, holding Leonard, an Italian greyhound whose blue knit sweater was not designed by Cynthia Vincent. —Deborah Belgum
