California Apparel News

Christy Dawn’s “Audrey” dress recently hit the racks at Free People, a division of Urban Outfitters Inc. But the Made–in–Los Angeles label also is looking to build a higher profile for its vintage-inspired styles by opening a boutique in a burgeoning retail neighborhood.

The Christy Dawn boutique is located on Lincoln Boulevard in Los Angeles’ Venice district. It is a big jump from what was essentially a cottage business for the label’s co-founders, Christy Dawn Petersen and her husband, Aras Baskauskas. He is the winner of the reality TV competition program “Survivor: Panama,” which was broadcast in 2006.

Since January 2013, the couple ran the vintage dress label out of the garage of their Santa Monica, Calif., home. It is the first company helmed by Petersen, who built a career as a model. She continues to work part-time as a model for companies such as Nexxus. Christy Dawn was funded with seed money from Petersen’s modeling gigs. During her jobs, she said, Petersen often brainstormed on dresses that she wanted to make while modeling other labels’ clothes. While the label makes dresses that evoke an aesthetic of a different time, there is beauty in taking a break from contemporary styles, Petersen said. “The silhouettes are sensual without being overtly sexy. You’ll find things in vintage dresses that you won’t find in today’s fashion,” she said. Pop star Taylor Swift wore a Christy Dawn dress in a video for her song “Style.”

The dresses are made out of deadstock fabric, or surplus fabric that bigger companies may dispose of. The Christy Dawn production runs range from two pieces to 25 pieces. The dresses are produced in downtown Los Angeles. Christy Dawn’s dresses are wholesale priced at $75 to $250.

More than 60 percent of the label’s sales come from its e-commerce site (www.christydawn.com). The rest comes from its store at 1930 Lincoln Blvd., on the corner of Lincoln and Amoroso Place. It is located in a neighborhood of small boutiques that started opening a year ago. Its neighbors include boutiques Late Sunday Afternoon and Bassike.

Petersen said the neighborhood was becoming the new Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. The high-profile Abbot Kinney transformed from a retail neighborhood of unique shops into a nationally known retail street with high-end boutiques. “There’s a surprisingly good amount of foot traffic,” she said of her section of Lincoln Boulevard.

Momo Takahashi, a Venice resident and writer for periodicals such as Safari, a Japanese magazine, said more than three new brands and retailers have opened boutiques on Lincoln Boulevard in the past 12 months. “Rent is [relatively] cheap, you can park easily, and there is more variety,” she said of the fashion boutiques on the street.