Hollywood Star Gets a Face Lift : Purple will give way to gray as part of a $300,000 renovation at Frederick’s.
Frederick’s of Hollywood no longer has a passion for the purple front on its vintage Hollywood Boulevard building.
Come Oct. 16, as part of a $300,000 face lift of the famous lingerie store, the purple will be replaced by six shades of warm gray painted in vertical panels across the front, with accents of fuchsia and white on the extensive filigree work.
New awnings in fuchsia, with half-inch stripes in white, yellow and aqua, will replace the old pink awnings that Frederick’s removed from the 1935 building three weeks ago.
“The gray is beautiful but subtle,” said George Townson, chief executive of Frederick’s, in offering the first details of the renovation. “The building needs more drama and theater.” Hence, the fuchsia and high-intensity, miniature Klieg lights that will shoot light up the front of the Streamline Moderne building at night.
Centered on the building, above the awnings, will be Frederick’s of Hollywood’s new stylized logo with a 7-foot star. Crowning the building will be another star and the word Frederick’s.
Townson lately has garnered favorable publicity for his management team’s effort to clean up Frederick’s act. The company has been revamping the look of its stores, offering less tawdry merchandise and making its catalogues more demure.
Of the restoration, he said, “We’re repolishing the Hollywood star as well as our own.”
And how is Hollywood dealing with the loss of the lurid purple on the former Kress & Co. building? Just fine, thank you.
“I think people will always flock to Frederick’s whether it’s white, blue or whatever,” said Larry Kaplan, president and chief executive of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. “Some will like that it’s not purple anymore.” Besides, he added, “a key color is green, which is the color of the money it’s going to bring into the community.”
