Youngblood
719 S. Los Angeles St.Suite 1118Los Angeles(518) 598-6892
When Patrick Dilascia first considered moving from New York to Los Angeles to open a showroom, he thought, “There’s no young blood in the industry.” So when the former buyer made his move, he named his independent multi-line showroom Youngblood.
Located a few blocks north of the showroom buildings at Ninth and Los Angeles streets, the 4,000-square-foot Youngblood showroom has panoramic views of downtown Los Angeles.
“It feels like an underground vibe, younger and edgier,” said the former Burlington Coat Factory buyer. “We have fresh new brands in here.”
With stark-white walls and a loft-like feel, the space houses a mix of casual apparel—with an emphasis on menswear.
Dilascia and business partner Trevor Blackwood estimate about 70 percent of the lines in the showroom are menswear, including the men’s line from Los Angeles–based Rojas (wholesale priced from $16 to the high $30s) and Sterling Williams, which sells at Fred Segal and Kitson. Best known for its deep-V tee, the collection features cotton and bamboo styles wholesale priced from $18 to $60. A more moderate-priced line is also in the works.
Other men’s lines include Heartbreak, a New York–based, price-driven T-shirt line ($12.50), Los Angeles–based Reloaded, which features edgy, original artwork and foil printing (wholesale priced in the mid-$30s), and woven shirts and outerwear from Twice (wholesale prices are $16.50 to $22 for the shorts, $40 to $60 for the outerwear).
Bluff is an embellished men’s line with poker-themed graphics and specialty washes wholesaling for $36. Macy’s Florida has expressed interest in the line for spring, Blackwood said.
Steve Vintage and ROA are related lines based in Los Angeles. ROA, which sells at Metropark, features silk-screened graphics on T-shirt bodies. Steve Vintage features some of the same graphics on vintage pieces such as vests and woven shirts. Both lines are wholesale priced from $18.50 for single-screen prints up to $24 for double-screen prints.
Los Angeles–based Quiet Royalty features tees and vests priced in the mid-$20s, and a denim collection is in the works, as well as a diffusion T-shirt collection called Dark Majesty.
Among the collections with offerings for both men and women are vintage sunglasses from Replay Vintage, Billionaire Mafia, the embellished graphics line from Las Vegas eveningwear designer Lana Fuchs, and embellished scarves and casual sportswear by New York–based Saint’s Lounge. The company’s scarves are doing well at Macy’s West, and the collection’s embellished tees, hoodies and sweats, which sell at LASC, combine athletic details with tattoo graphics. In addition, Saint's Lounge has a licensing agreement with Penthouse and has a collection of T-shirts with graphics of vintage Penthouse covers. Los Angeles retailer Lisa Kline carries the collection.
The showroom also carries Los Angeles–based premium-denim line Sacred Blue. Wholesale priced from $79 to $99, the collection is one of the showroom’s highest-priced lines. Dilascia and Blackwood hope to expand their denim offerings with a lower-priced line and another based in Germany.
The showroom opened in September. “We’re off to a good start—within the first week, we had Macy’s and Filene’s in here,” Blackwood said. “We try to have something for everybody—from urban to contemporary.” —Alison A. Nieder
