MartinMartin Label Debuts First Store
Los Angeles independent fashion brand MartinMartin has been a frequent fixture on the runways of Los Angeles Fashion Week. On Sept. 10, MartinMartin sets up something of a permanent installation. A boutique called martinMARTIN STORE is debuting at 713 S. Los Angeles St. in downtown Los Angeles.
Label designers and husband-and-wife team Eric and Diane Moss Martin said the 1,713-square-foot boutique is the only place in Southern California where their product is available. The store mostly has handcrafted, minimalist-inspired fashions for men and women as well as the couple’s leather footwear and handbags.
The shop’s retail price points range from $200 for a T-shirt to $1,500 to $2,500 for a leather jacket and $900 to $1,500 for boots. The boutique’s business model might be lucrative for them. When a wholesaler owns a store, the store can charge retail prices for what it typically sells wholesale, Eric Martin said.
“There’s also a feeling that designers want to control their own destiny,” Martin said of not having to chase store buyers for business. “If you have four or five stores, you’re doing a lot of volume and you’re the captain of your own ship.”
During Los Angeles Fashion Market, the store’s mezzanine section will be turned into a showroom for next season’s fashions. Generally, the mezzanine area will serve as the sales area for men’s fashions.
The shop is housed in a space formerly occupied by a men’s suit store. The Martins gave the shop a gallery-style decor with white walls and cracked-cement flooring.
If the store’s business goes well, the designers hope to build more MartinMartin stores, including one in New York. They also hope to make their store an integral part of the street scene at the popular Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, which is held the second Thursday of every month. The store will host gallery shows and mixers during the event.
“Downtown is one of the last frontiers for retail,” Eric Martin said. ”It was a capital for discount retailing. But we think there is a shift. More high-end stores, art galleries and restaurants are moving in.”—Andrew Asch
