Go East, Young Woman
Jennifer Heim had worked for two years as a buyer at Intuition, a boutique on Los Angeles’ Westside that focuses on celebrity fashions. In 2005, she decided that opportunity lay east.
On Dec. 8, Heim celebrated the grand opening of a 1,800-square-foot boutique, Related, in Los Angeles’ Silverlake neighborhood. Part of its mission is to sell premium denim labels such as True Religion and Paige in a neighborhood best known for favoring bohemian fashions.
But Heim does not intend to import Westside sensibilities to Silverlake. She’ll also be offering the fashions of independent designers such as Desanka and Morphine Generation at her store. “The Westside is over-saturated,” Heim said of Los Angeles retail and her reason for setting up shop in Silverlake.
Related will be one of the only stores to sell high-profile premium denim brands in the artsy enclave. Some other Eastside-area retailers said they failed when trying to sell clothes with a mainstream cachet or a widely known brand name.
“My customers tell me that they don’t want to spend money on jeans,” said Jennifer Phillips, owner of Sirens & Sailors, a respected boutique in the adjacent Echo Park neighborhood. “They can spend one day on the Westside for denim and brand names. They come here to avoid that. They come here for unique pieces.”
Yet Heim said there’s a strong demand for premium denim in Silverlake. “There’s a little bit of everything in here, but denim has been selling very well.” Her top sellers include True Religion jeans, priced at up to $280.
Related will also be selling labels with streetwear cachet, such as the New York–based Triple 5 Soul.
Heim forecast that the fashion spectrum for Spring 2006 might make room for apparel other than jeans. “I’m telling you, the dress is coming back,” she said. —Andrew Asch
