For the Sake of a Frock
The word “frock” may sound frumpy to American ears, but to Australian designer Leona Edmiston, the word is the key to good style.
The designer invited Los Angeles to reconsider the frock, Australian for “dress,” on Jan. 20 at the first party at her Santa Monica, Calif.–based Leona Edmiston store. More than 200 guests poured into the 1,000-square-foot space at 1007 Montana Ave., where all the possibilities of the frock were on display.
For Winter 2005, it was faux furs and tweeds or long dresses with a Pucci-like print. For Spring 2005, looks included signature jersey dresses in new colors such as spring pea and watermelon. These dresses, part of a 60-piece collection, had debuted at the 2004 Mercedes Australian Fashion Week in Sydney.
Australian women have been wearing Edmiston’s clothes for more than 18 years, first under the MorriseyEdmiston label. “It was probably the most recognizable of young designer labels in Australia,” said Unjoo Moon, an Aussie and the owner of Melrose Avenue boutique Sheila.
Since 2000, Edmiston has designed under her eponymous label. The apparel has been available at Selfridges department store in the United Kingdom for the past few years. America got its first formal taste of the line in 2002, when Kym Wilson, Edmiston’s senior executive sales representative, opened wholesale operations in Santa Monica. The company launched the retail shop in March 2004.
Edmiston’s U.S. wholesale earnings in 2004, when the company focused its wholesale operations on independent boutiques, were twice those of 2002, Wilson said. Edmiston’s designs are available at Los Angeles–area boutiques such as Sheila in West Hollywood, Calif., and Ethyl on West Third Street. The line is also sold at Annies in San Francisco. Wilson said the company plans to open two more boutiques, perhaps in California, by 2006. —Andrew Asch
