California Apparel News

This fall, Los Angeles will have a new men’s lifestyle boutique offering a mix of apparel, accessories, personal electronics, grooming products, baby items, books and gifts, as well as wardrobe consulting and party-planning services.

Alpha is the joint endeavor of designer Darren Gold and retailer Christos Garkinos. The two are scouting locations in the West Melrose area, close to Decadestwo, the contemporary retail boutique Garkinos co-owns with Cameron Silver.

“It’s Colette-meets-Brookstone,” quipped Gold, designer of contemporary men’s line Gold and co-designer of contemporary women’s line Mhope. Gold is also the current president of the Coalition of Los Angeles Designers.

“We want to show ever y aspect of a guy’s life: how to work, how to play, how to groom, how to love,” he said, noting that in addition to men’s items, there will be gift items for women. This will allow a man to pick up ever ything from personal grooming items for himself to Mother’s Day gifts. Gold said he and Garkinos plan to hold special events during which shoppers can be fitted for a custom shirt or get a manicure.

Also, Gold and Garkinos are planning to host trunk shows at the store to spotlight local designers. Another idea in the works is to have members of the Los Angeles design community curate a section of the store with a few of their favorite things. The two plan to start with Decadestwo’s Silver.

Alpha’s merchandise mix will be about 30 percent clothing and 70 percent accessories and gifts, Gold said, adding the mix might fluctuate, depending on what he and Garkinos find on their shopping trips. So far, the two have been shopping locally and will carry lines such as A.P.C., Lambertson Truex, Band of Outsiders, Cristi Conaway M, Ryan Roberts and Yakod Deveraux. They are also planning to travel to New York this summer to search for new lines.

For more information, call Gold at (323) 883-0878. —Alison A. Nieder