Designer Opens Her First U.S. Boutique on Rodeo Drive

Designer Mila Schon tugs at her diamond necklaces, speaking briskly in Italian to several assistants. Though she’s visited Beverly Hills once before, this trip comes with serious intent: Her new Rodeo Drive boutique opened in October.

The narrow, 1,600-square-foot store carries classic suits, dresses and evening wear that this Milanese designer calls “old school.” Much of it involves handwork. Some pieces are one of a kind. And prices are far from mass market.

Spring Collection

“It’s possible to get out of here under $1,000 if you buy a sweater, a shirt and belt,” store manager Monica Steele says. “Of course, the spring collection will be more expensive.”

She stops to admire a beaded, $12,000 gown. “This is a very nice price. It should be more.”

“I love expensive things,” Schon says through an interpreter. “When I choose something--I choose the best.”

This small woman, who wears a tailored gray dress, short cropped hair and no makeup, began designing in the mid-’60s after an earlier career as a fashion buyer. Her simply shaped couture collections were followed in the early 1970s by a less costly ready-to-wear line. Two years ago she launched a sportswear “boutique” group aimed at younger customers. She also designs menswear, knitwear and accessories.

This is her first free-standing U.S. shop, though she has several stores in Europe and Japan. Her partner in the boutique, and its president, is Rodeo Drive retailer Giuseppe Battaglia, whose menswear store is down the street.

Balenciaga Inspiration

Inspired by the late designer Cristobal Balenciaga, Schon says she has no patience with avant- garde designers who want only to shock.

“You can feel it in the air now. The customer is looking for elegance again,” she maintains.

Her spring collection includes silk navy-and-white stripe dresses and suits with broad shoulders and cinched waists or hip wraps.

“Even a pocket,” Schon says, “can change completely the proportion of a dress.”