California Apparel News

Sirens & Sailors carved a reputation for offering designers with an avant-garde edge, such as Grey Ant and Desanka. On Dec. 2, the store partnered with Black Chandelier designer Jared Gold to open a shop within the boutique.

Sirens & Sailors, based in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood, threw a debut party for the recently opened Black Chandelier mini-boutique. The 200-square-foot space will serve—for now—as the Los Angeles boutique for the Victorian-inspired label based in Salt Lake City.

Gold, Black Chandelier’s president, said he initially was going to open a shop across the street. But the lease fell through before the scheduled Sept. 9 opening. He said it was crucial for Black Chandelier to maintain a presence in hip neighborhoods like Echo Park.

“I don’t make stuff for high-brow fashion,” said Gold, dressed in a Victorian morning suit for the opening party. “I make Black Chandelier for the cool kids who will get it.” Gold showed his latest collection at the P.KaBu runway series at Los Angeles Fashion Week in October.

The designer moved his company from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City in 2003, when he partnered with Salt Lake City–based diversified-management firm Nexia Holdings Inc. Now a publicly traded firm, Gold’s company does business under the name Dark Dynamite.

Dark Dynamite is in the process of being acquired by Kai Da (full name, Shanxi Kai Da Lv You Gu Wen You Xian Gong Si), a Xi’an City, China– based company that operates cultural theme parks in China, according to Gold, chief executive officer of Dark Dynamite. Gold said the deal is expected to be complete by January 2006.

Once the deal is concluded, Gold will be the president of Kai Da’s Black Chandelier division and sit on the company’s board of directors, the designer said.

Since relocating to Utah, Gold has let his imagination run wild. He creates his designer line as well as home deacute;cor and the occasional children’s collection in a historic Victorian building in downtown Salt Lake City.

The collection is sold at a handful of boutiques nationwide, as well as at Gold’s own stores in Salt Lake City and Seattle. The designer also has an e-commerce site, at www.blackchandelier.com.

“People don’t come to me for a pair of black pants or a khaki jacket,” Gold said. “They come to me to send their wardrobe ahead a few seasons. We’ve found that in our retail stores, the harder we push it, the faster it sells.”

Sirens & Sailors owner Jennifer Phillips said the Black Chandelier in-store shop will remain until Gold finds a permanent location in Los Angeles.

“It’s permanent for now—until he expands into is own store,” she said. —Andrew Asch