Robertson's Other Fashion Block
leBLOC co-founders from left Keana Essex, Andrew Litow, Lauren Glassberg and Morgan McPherson
Fashion retailing can take root on any street. That’s what the entrepreneurs of new fashion company leBLOC hope.
On Nov. 11, they opened the first leBLOC pop-up shop at 2724 S. Robertson Blvd in Los Angeles. It’s an address that shares the same name as the premier shopping district on Robertson Boulevard and Alden Drive, but it feels like a completely different world. leBLOC is located in a restored 721-square-foot cottage, and is surrounded by modest mom-and-pop businesses, not boutiques with high marquee fashion names. leBLOC’s closest landmark is HamiltonHigh School, which is located a block or so away. Yet leBLOC co-founder and former showroom account executive Andrew R. Litow said he thought his company could act as a pioneer on the street.
“This house is amazing,” he said of the 68-year-old bungalow he restored with co-founders Keana Essex, Morgan McPherson and Lauren Glassberg. “My goal is to bring this neighborhood up.” One of the first steps in sprucing up this neighborhood was having a party on Nov. 11, for the pop-up shop where DJ Mirandom spun hip hop music and the party menu included hors d’oeuvres such as Filet on Baguette with Blue Cheese and Port. The pop-up shop will offer emerging accessories and fashion labels such as Bijules and Otis Maclain to more established brands such as KillCity and PlasticIsland, according to Essex.
leBLOC will close down its pop-up store Dec. 31. Then the leBLOC founders will focus on using the Robertson address as a showroom. They also hope to debut leBLOC pop-up shops in Miami and New York City, as well as producing parties and cultural events, according to McPherson who once worked as a documentarian for Kanye West and Sean “Diddy” Combs. “leBLOC is more than a store,” he said. “We think of it as a society.”
