California Apparel News

The girls who put the “fabulous” into Ben-Amun’s Fabulous Eva DiShanni and Tracie May are the “fabulous” ladies behind the Ben-Amun’s Fabulous showroom and they have a concept: to create the most fabulous one-stop-shopping showroom.

Ben-Amun’s Fabulous is on the 10th floor of the California Mart. When you enter the showroom, you automatically feel the energy—it surrounds your senses. A fragrant smell—something between sweet and fruity—permeates the air. Surrounding you is an array of all sorts of stylish and fabulous things: purses and handbags, shoes and jewelry, clothes and lingerie. And, of course, those sweet-smelling body oils.

But the showroom wasn’t always fabulous—Ben-Amun’s Fabulous, that is. Two years ago, the showroom was simply called Ben-Amun and was headed by DiShanni, who repped the New York-based jewelry collection as well as one other accessory line that eventually went its own way.

“When I started thinking about bringing in other designers, it seemed to snowball and take on a life of its own,” she said. “I wanted to take on one certain thing, like I wanted to start with bags and see how that went. And then really terrific bag lines just started showing up. Then, other really terrific jewelry lines started showing up. Then just all these really amazing different things just started showing up.”

And, according to DiShanni, May was one of those things. She joined forces with DiShanni earlier this year, and since then, they have re-defined the showroom concept with an eye to boutique retailers.

“The more we started thinking about it, [we realized] the boutique industry really needed a place to shop,” DiShanni explained. “Most of the showrooms on this level want to deal with high volume. They want to deal with the item of the minute—things that everybody’s got to have at least one or two of and in every single color. We decided that we wanted to do something where we were going to be facilitating the boutique customers that wanted to be more spectacular—that wanted to be more special and individualistic as opposed to the same thing.”

“We’re trying to be an everything showroom, not just an accessories showroom just because we’re on the 10th floor,” May added. “We’re trying to cater to everyone.”

But being on the 10th floor of the Cal Mart begs the question of whether being on a floor dedicated to accessories will affect the amount of sales and exposure for the showroom’s clothing designers. Currently, Ben-Amun’s Fabulous is the exclusive showroom for Heatherette, an ultra-funky New York-based collection of glammed-out T-shirts and other one-of-a-kind designs that have been making a lot of noise in the world of music and fashion. The showroom also represents Treat Me Right, the new contemporary label from Grey Ant designer Grant Krajecki, and York Clothing, a graffiti-style T-shirt line by designer Evan York.

DiShanni maintains that the lines she and May carry are small and exclusive enough to warrant being off the beaten path.

“Most of these designers, first of all, are not big designers yet, so they couldn’t handle really big orders anyway,” said DiShanni. “They would prefer to be in only a few stores in the beginning so that they can cultivate that clientele and bring on a kind of cult following where you can only find them in certain stores. That’s more what they’re after than just making sales.”

“The reaction we’ve gotten from every single person who has come in here is like, ’Oh my god, you guys have this! Oh my god, you guys have that!’” DiShanni continued. “Just by word of mouth a tremendous amount of traffic has come just to see the new line for Heatherette or the new line Treat Me Right by Grey Ant. So far, it’s been a terrific outcome.”

It’s not hard to imagine why people would be drawn to the showroom. Aside from the merchandise, the presence of “the fabulous girls” (a title they’ve since acquired) is very comforting and quite spiritual. Even more telling, though, are the relationships they share with their designers, which seem more like those of close friends or family.

“The girls have an amazing energy,” said Christie Martin, co-owner and designer for Segal-Martin, an upscale edgy jewelry collection, and co-owner of Nina at Fred Segal in Santa Monica, Calif. “Very dynamic, very real, very in tune with what’s going on in fashion. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. I haven’t seen anyone else who has the drive and the love for what they do.”

Michelle Frantz, designer and owner of Hand Maid, a fashion-forward line of handbags, agrees. “I walked in here and they just had positive energy and a good vibe. They knew my line, understood it and knew how to sell it and relate to it.”

Understanding a designer’s image and the image they want to convey is obviously a priority for DiShanni and May, who emphasize their belief in representing the artist first and foremost and maintaining a personal relationship built on trust with both their stores and designers.

Evan York said he appreciates DiShanni and May’s emphasis on the designer as artist. “When they got back from New York [after Sept. 11], everyone was bummed—retail was down. Tracie said to me, ’Evan, just go home and be an artist.’ When she said that, she really broke through to me, whether she knows it or not. I went home and painted like 10 paintings and came up with a bunch of new T-shirts.”

But it was DiShanni and May’s ability to scout trends that hooked Heatherette design duo Richie Rich and Traver Rains.

“Their representation is very important because it’s like a direct extension of our image,” they said. “Like us, they know what’s going on and are able to see around the bend toward new trends. Staying one step ahead of the game is what gives us the edge and we believe Eva and Tracie have the talent and passion to keep us there.”