Melrose East: What's Selling
Once the epicenter of Los Angeles’ punk and new-wave looks in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Melrose Avenue between Fairfax and La Brea avenues continues to be the address of scrappy, rock ’n’ roll looks. (Less than one mile west, Melrose Avenue’s real estate becomes the address for boutiques for iconic designers such as Diane Von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs and Paul Smith.)
For Gabriela Valenzuela, it was a big achievement when she opened her Happiness boutique at the celebrated Fred Segal Santa Monica in Santa Monica, Calif., last year. But she felt like she embarked on a mission when she opened her My Closet Italia boutique on Los Angeles’ Melrose Avenue one month later in November.
“There is no place to shop like Melrose,” said Valenzuela, who grew up shopping on the well-known Los Angeles fashion street, which has been the apex of style and the butt of jokes over the past 40 years. “We want to bring back the whole boutique-shopping thing. We want less mall, more Melrose.”
Valenzuela’s Melrose mission is to bring affordable but unique fashions to the well-traveled street. Located at 7716 Melrose Ave., My Closet Italia sells well-known labels such as Cheap Mondays jeans. But its focus is on Happiness and Eiman Hamza for Happiness, the fashion lines designed by Valenzuela and her Italian-based business partners, Michael Scarpallini and Eiman Hamza. The trio met at Los Angeles’ Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in 2006.
At the Congregation of the Forgotten Saints boutique, located at 7569 Melrose Ave., designer Cody Varona designs “one-of-a-kind, dirty rock ’n’ roll” styles for bands such as Guns ’n’ Roses, as well as Los Angeles–based brands such as Skingraft.
Designer Gita Salem counts music star Prince as one of the customers at his boutique for S&G by Sequoia and Gita at 7414 Melrose Ave. The “Keyhole” jacket, worn by the musician on a tour last year, remains a top-seller in the collection.
At the Voom-brand boutique at 7450 Melrose Ave., top sellers include styles by James & Joy, Voom’s sister label, said store salesperson Shohsanam Shamstdnva.
Slow boutique is one of the veterans of the street. Since 1995, it has been selling vintage and new clothes at 7474 Melrose Ave. Top selling items include the As Is maxi-dress and United Couture T-shirts, which feature slogans celebrating the fashion party life with malaprops and tangled English such as “Hollywood Makes Me Hangover.”
