NASTY GAL BOWS
Nasty Gal Opens on Melrose
A line of fans and shoppers snaked around the corner of Melrose Avenue and North Kilkea Drive in Los Angeles on the morning of Nov. 21 to take in the opening of the first physical boutique for Nasty Gal, the e-commerce emporium that mixes designer vintage with contemporary styles for a unique statement.
Jessica Rafael drove more than 55 miles from the South Orange County town of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., for a chance to be one of the first shoppers at Nasty Gal’s Melrose store. “It’s different from any brand,” Rafael, a restaurant server, said. “It’s very authentic and unique.”
The store opening has been highly anticipated because of the popularity of www.nastygal.com, which makes more than $100 million a year, according to a statement on the company website, and interest in founder Sophia Amoruso, who published #Girlboss, a hardcover book that was ranked as a bestseller by Publisher’s Weekly this summer.
The interest seeped into the realm of celebrity. At a gala debut dinner for the boutique on Nov. 20, Academy Award winner Charlize Theron appeared in Nasty Gal clothes accompanied by Sean Penn and his daughter Dylan Penn. Hip-hop musician Azaelia Banks also dropped by the festivities.
At the Nasty Gal boutique, designer vintage looks ranging from Vivienne Westwood to Thierry Mugler are mixed in with clothes from the Nasty Gal line. In the front of the boutique, clothes and jewelry are displayed. The center of the boutique is devoted to a bank of dressing rooms. In the back is a shoe salon and an alcove for hipster magazines and the Lena Dunham memoir Not That Kind of Girl.
The space for the Nasty Gal boutique formerly housed contemporary boutique Madison. It is located across the street from the pioneering boutique compound Fred Segal. Liz Porter, manager of Channel Islands Surfboards at 8175 Melrose Ave., forecast that Nasty Gal would bring a lot of foot traffic to the street. “They have no parking,” Porter said. Nasty Gal shoppers will have to park on the street and walk past Melrose boutiques to shop at the store. “We’ll get a lot of girls walking by,” Porter said. “We’ll get a lot of street sales.”
