Shareen Collection Relaunches at New W. Third Street Store
When a prescientfriend in 2007 advised Shareen Mitchell to pull the plug on her emerging dresslabel, Shareen, the friend forecast the economy was teetering at the edge of acliff.
In what may be avote of confidence for the economy, Mitchell is following her own counsel andis putting her own money behind a reintroduction of Shareen, a cocktail andspecial-events dress label embraced by tastemakers such as Janie Bryant, thecostume designer for the Emmy Award–winning series “Mad Men.”
There was a party forthe comeback collection on June 21 in Los Angeles at the grand opening ofMitchell’s 750-square-foot boutique, also called Shareen. It is located at 8377W. Third St. on the stylish thoroughfare of independent restaurants andboutiques between two of Los Angeles’ dominant malls, The Grove and the Beverly Center.
The world is seeingmore of Shareen. With no budget for stylists or public relations, the Shareenlabel’s “Cameron” dress was worn on the red carpet for the Daytime Emmy Awardson June 23 by actress Christel Khalil. Khalil dropped by the Shareen shop atthe proverbial last minute before the Emmys.
Bryant wore Shareen’s“Margot” dress to the “Mad Men” finale event on June 10. She also wore aShareen dress June 20 at the Costume Council’s “Western Costume Co.: The First 100 Years” event at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (See related story, page 6.) Bryant has been a veteran customer atMitchell’s other business, Shareen Vintage.
“I see inspirationsfrom the glamour of the 1930s to 1970s inspirations,” Bryant said of the newline. “It’s all tied together by her great love of vintage. She’s cut from thecloth as I am as a designer.”
Like a recessionsurvivor used to rolling with economic punches, Mitchell strives to makeglamorous dresses while working on a shoestring.
Mitchell drives adecidedly unglamorous 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser. She funds the dress line and newboutique through revenue from Shareen Vintage, her downtown Los Angeles vintagefashion shop, where she has repurposed old fashions into new and sold perfectlypreserved vintage since 2004. The Shareen dress operation is small. Shedesigns, and she employs four full-time sewers, one pattern maker and oneproduction coordinator.
Shareen dresses oftenuse high-end materials, including 100 percent silk and double-faced satin. ButMitchell’s dresses typically steer clear of baroque looks, and the dresses aremoderately priced. Retail price points range from $198 to $698.
“It’s right on for ready-to-wear,” said JohnArguelles, media director of Lloyd Klein, a Los Angeles–based couture house. “It’s acompetitive price point.” However, many red carpet and couture dresses arepriced much higher than the Shareen line. “Couture is like building a car fromscratch,” Arguelles said.
Mitchell stakesher design reputation on a balance between making a beautiful garment andmaking something that will support the beauty of the wearer. “I only makedresses sexy in ways that are understated,” Mitchell said. The dresses standout because of the fabric and the unique way they are constructed. But thedetails are relatively spare. “I don’t like it when it’s sexy/over the top. Iwant to make a dress that will make him want to marry you, not just take you tobed.”
Mitchell’s West ThirdStreet shop shares the same aesthetic as her line. With boutique interiorscrafted by OJC Designs, the store was intended to carry the look of aminimalist Paris apartment—except for the moving racks carrying gowns and someantique mirrors and furniture.
The long route to retail
Mitchell did not growup wanting to become a designer. After graduating from Smith College with a degree in French literature, she got jobsassisting fashion editors at Condé Nast magazines, including Vogue and Mademoiselle. Later, a job scouting new talent for Elite Models looked like it was becoming a career untilMitchell found out that her fiancé cheated on her with one of the models.
She opted to breakwith the past and forge a new career, which was harder to enter than fashiondesign—acting. After 2½ years of taking acting classes, she landed featuredroles in movies in the ’90s, including “Out for Justice” with Steven Seagal and“American Heart” with Jeff Bridges, as well as a leading role in the 1995 TVseries “Hudson Street” with Tony Danza.
But the roles stopped coming in 2002. With a$38,000 debt and no job, Mitchell embarked on what she called “the year ofhumbleness,” where she babysat, cleaned homes and walked dogs to make endsmeet.
Being low on funds forclothes, she scoured vintage shops. She turned it into a new gig, sellingclothes at the Melrose Trading Post flea market at the parking lot of Los Angeles’ Fairfax High School. In afew months, her 10-by-10 booth was impossible to access—there were too manypeople crowding it to shop. In 2004, she opened Shareen Vintage in downtown LosAngeles, and in 2009, in New York, she opened another Shareen Vintage shop.
If the dress labelsucceeds, Mitchell intends to build more Shareen boutiques, where she hopesmore of women’s natural beauty will be highlighted by her dresses. “I like mygirls to win,” she said. “I never produce a dress unless it could turn everyhead of the room.”
—Andrew Asch
