House of Infinite Radness' Wild Style
Marco Morante has constructed some pretty wild clothes for today’s music stars. He helped source and put together glam pieces such as the cupcake bra that Katy Perry wore in the video for the hit song “California Gurls,” the spiked dress Fergie wore at the 2010 Grammy concert and the astronaut jumpsuit Ke$ha wore during her “Saturday Night Live” performance in 2010. By the end of February, Morante will open a fashion shop to satisfy Los Angeles’ rock ’n’ roll cravings.
He will debut House of Infinite Radness at 1639 N. Las Palmas Ave. in Hollywood. It will offer costumes, one-of-a-kind pieces and ready-to-wear, accessible versions of the stuff he makes for music’s most outrageous women.
The 900-square-foot shop also will offer a gallery space where stylists can browse pieces for upcoming shoots. Behind the gallery, there will be a chandelier-lit dressing room where musicians, stars and members of the public can try on Marco’s latest creations. Retail price points for fashions range from $250 to $2,200. The House of Infinite Radness will not deal in wholesale.
The operation also will be something of a workshop for Morante and his friends, such as designer Ashton Michael. Adjacent to the House of Infinite Radness, Morante runs a studio where the costumes and fashions are made. This workshop is a study in controlled chaos, with a cast of up-and-coming designers, fashion veterans and students toiling over the studio’s work tables and sewing machines.
Morante said the only way to make something unique is the involved creative process of working with other designers as they choose fabrics, argue over silhouettes and sometimes change course. Some designers outsource intricate beadwork to India or detailed leatherwork to Mexico.
Those designers might be saving some money, but Morante says they lose creative inspiration. “Everyone is coming together to do something intricate here,” Morante said. “You can’t send out for it.”
For more information on House of Infinite Radness, visit www.marcomarco.net or call (323) 462-2304.—Andrew Asch
