California Apparel News

Lisa Derrick Fine Arts made its debut in Los Angeles’ Chinatown section in January. After producing shows of contemporary artists such as Gary Wong, Anthony Ausgang and Leslie Lanxinger, the commercial gallery is getting around to fashion.

Located at 961 Chung King Road, the commercial gallery is the site of a pop-up shop, which will sell one-of-a-kind styles by Erin Lewis. She is the British-born head designer of the Carla Fernández fashion label. It is headquartered in Mexico City and focuses on working on traditional Mexican artisans.

The Erin Lewis pop-up will run from Oct. 24 to Oct. 26. Lewis will sell items such as hand-embroidered ponchos and also give two workshops on making clothes for protests. Lewis considers herself a citizen of the world. She has participated in Brexit protests in London and the January 2017 Women’s Day March in Washington D.C. She’ll give tips on embroidering slogans, and getting a message out with clothing. No reservations are required for the workshop. A $12 donation is requested, but Lewis said that no one will be turned away.

Lewis said that Americans have been lucky that their rights to assemble and to free speech are basically respected by the U.S. government. She remembered being pleasantly surprised when talking to customs officials at Reagan Airport in Washington D.C. before the 2017 Women’s March.

“Coming through customs, we were asked what we were going to do in America. I said that I’m here to protest,” she said. The customs officer’s reply? "That’s fine."

“The U.S. is going through a weird time,” she said. “ But at the end of the day you still have human rights way beyond other countries."