California Apparel News

When a Starbucks moved into Echo Park in 2002, denizens of one of Los Angeles’ oldest immigrant and bohemian neighborhoods fretted that the place was on an inevitable track toward gentrification.

Four years later, Oscar de la Cruz, owner of fashion boutique Luxe de Ville, surveyed the neighborhood and swore that a majority of its residents prefer the local independent Downbeat Cafe to the ubiquitous coffee chain across the street.

“I’ve heard so many people saying it’s the next hot spot,” de la Cruz said of Echo Park. “But I’ve been hearing that ever since I’ve worked here.”

In the 11 years that de la Cruz has owned and managed Luxe de Ville, Echo Park has been alternately as glamorous and rough-edged as the fashions he sells at his boutique. One of the neighborhood’s main drags, the 2100–2200 block of West Sunset Boulevard, is the home to a medicinal marijuana co-op, storefront church, tattoo parlor and thriving, if unorthodox, fashion retail scene.

The neighborhood’s fashion boutiques on Sunset Boulevard—Luxe de Ville, Sirens & Sailors, Anti-Market—and Show Pony on Echo Park Boulevard specialize in new and unconventional fashion designers. The stores gained a reputation with fashion mavens and stylists on a quest for clothes as unique as the neighborhood.

The reputation snowballed to such a point that Sirens & Sailors owner Jennifer Phillips said she doesn’t have to shop at showrooms for new designers. Instead the designers seek out the Echo Park boutiques’ owners.

Selling fashions at one of these boutiques is a strong vote of confidence for a label, said Jeanell Suggs, co-designer of Los Angeles–based label Franny, which is sold at Sirens & Sailors and Ron Herman boutiques in Beverly Hills and Malibu.

“They’re independent,” Suggs said of the Echo Park boutiques. “They take a chance on young designers and [their reputation] circulates among cool people. It says that you can hold your own among cool designers.”

But designer interest doesn’t mean the job of buying for Echo Park clients is easy. Phillips said it’s especially hard to buy for Echo Park men, musicians and rock “scenesters” who want to look as unique as the sound played at some of the neighborhood nightclubs such as The Echo.

“I’ve had such trouble trying to find men’s collections [for customers],” Phillips said. “They want something new so they won’t have to buy something vintage. They don’t want to look too fashiony or too [skateboard-like].”

It’s easier to buy for women because there are more designers making clothes for them, Phillips said. Her best-selling and emerging labels include Los Angeles–based Peek-A-Booda and Rock-N-Role, which is inspired by punk rock as well as the capes and petticoats of Merchant Ivory films.

Retail price points for independent designers range from $150 to $300. Sirens & Sailors’ store brands also include Grey Ant and Emily Noelle. Grey Ant’s “Dolman” fleece sweater costs $187. And an Emily Noelle hoodie with gold leaves is $135.

Music and art also are important inspirations for fashion at Luxe de Ville. In his fashion line, Odd, de la Cruz named pieces after rock stars like Grace Slick and Siouxsie Sioux. Skirts bearing the names of the rock stars are priced at $85.

Luxe de Ville’s other big sellers include hand-painted and silkscreened T-shirts by a gang of designers from Riverside, Calif., such as Demonslayer and Rocket. Retail price points for Rocket range from $32 to $50. Demonslayer is priced from $56 to $68.

Niche fashions take on some importance in Echo Park. For example, designer John Q opened Anti-Market in this neighborhood in 2004 to sell clothes for stylish punk rockers. He changed the direction for Anti-Market in April. It’s going to sell fashions to the discerning motorcyclist as well as motorcycle rims, engine parts and helmets.

In mid-May he’ll debut the Anti-Market denim for bikers. He guarantees that the $150 jeans would be for anybody, but they were inspired by his motorcycle club, the Cycle Jerks. “Community keeps us cool,” John Q said. “The cool keeps us representing Echo Park.”

The bohemian neighborhood also allows for some stylish dissent. Echo Park’s The Kids Are All Right boutique doesn’t sell clothes for artists, said co-owner Vanessa Alvino.

“We were never drawn to artsy,” Alvino said. “We were attracted to the pieces that make women look pretty, not edgy.”

Top-selling pieces include denim by Citizens of Humanity, with prices that range from $140 to $220, and Los Angeles–based designer Rachel Pally. Her price points range from $120 to $250.

Alvino’s feminine fashions have attracted shoppers from such far-flung areas and more buttoned-down places as Pasadena, Calif., and Orange County, Calif., Alvino said.

The willingness of West Los Angeles types to venture to Echo Park, combined with the burgeoning retail and residential growth in neighboring Silverlake’s Sunset Junction and downtown Los Angeles, might mean change is in store for Echo Park.

On April 3, Tagi Takahata opened a second location for his Brooklyn Projects skateboard shop in Echo Park. Takahata said he hoped to take advantage of the relatively low real-estate prices before they possibly skyrocket. But he doesn’t expect higher prices to alter the area’s character.

“I like its style,” he said. “It’s gritty.”