FASHION : It’s the Hottest Strip on Sunset
Some people consider Sunset Plaza--a pocket of classy shops and intriguing outdoor cafes along Sunset Boulevard--one of the best kept secrets in the world.
Madeleine Gallay, who opened an upscale boutique there two years ago (opposite an equally upscale boutique owned by her ex-husband, Charles Gallay), is convinced “many tourists know Rodeo Drive, they know Melrose Avenue, they even know La Brea Avenue. But they don’t know Sunset Plaza. This is not a high-profile place.” Pausing, she then added: “Maybe we should keep it that way.”
But it’s too late to keep Sunset Plaza under wraps. Over the past few years, the tiny section of West Hollywood, loosely defined by Le Dome restaurant at the west end and the Sunset Travel agency at the east, has dropped its conservative tone and become a hip, happening place with a strong European flavor. Gallay and many of her neighbors, all dealing in high-ticket merchandise and services, say the catalyst for change was Chin Chin--a streamlined cafe specializing in inexpensive Asian dishes (average check: $6 per person) and a generous cluster of outdoor tables.
When Chin Chin opened in 1983, “it anchored this area and made everything else happen,” says Gallay, who remembers Sunset Plaza from her childhood and recalls that “before Chin Chin, this was a stodgy place. It wasn’t all that much fun to come up here.”
Now the good times roll, and a first-time visitor is instantly struck by the unique charm of the plaza, with its Georgian architecture, well-tended flowers and shrubs, and the masses of free parking behind the shops on each side of the street. Windows--artfully decorated with anything from a glistening tuba in Butler & Wilson (London-based purveyors of unusual costume jewelry) to lavish trousseau items at Lisa Norman--beckon. But everything pales in comparison to the incessant parade of beautiful people who come to “park, eat, shop and enjoy the personal service,” as one tenant describes it.
Retailers describe a sophisticated, affluent clientele with ties to the entertainment industry and strong fashion convictions. They arrive in person, send a staff member or telephone to purchase entire wardrobes in a single swoop.
Ole Henriksen, whose Danish skin-care salon is adjacent to Mark Piscitelli’s traditional men’s wear store, relates a scene that could happen anywhere along Sunset Plaza: “People park and load their cars with (Piscitelli’s) merchandise. He has a very strong following.”
Henriksen’s own following changed after he moved to the area from Beverly Hills nine years ago. “It’s more of an international clientele, and I have a feeling a lot of that is based on the location,” he says. Included in the roster are foreign models who stay in nearby hotels, such as the Sunset Marquis.
Despite the ritzy aura, Sunset Plaza “is not snobby,” Henriksen says. He recommends Sunday brunch at Le Petit Four, the outdoor cafe populated by an international crowd: “It’s a fashion parade. You see the latest and hear every language under the sun.”
But the true language of the street is money: making it (as in power lunches at Le Dome), having it and spending it freely. Indicative of prices in the area, a hair cut by Joe Torrenueva, celebrity barber and owner of Torrenueva, is $115. Down the street at Jack Kellog, where the customer is described as “a self-made man--agents, producers, directors,” a butter-soft Italian suede jacket runs $1,150. And farther down at Gallay, the prices for avant-garde fantasies for women climb from $100 for an Isaia belt to $4,000 for an evening dress by Romeo Gigli.
Across the street in English-style Rosenthal Truitt, there are men’s furnishings and gift items, such as exclusive wood frames with sterling-silver trims for $315, or a rare wood-and-brass shoeshine box for $385. Nearby, in Bloomers for Kids, the predominantly European merchandise (Kenzo, Gianni Versace, Franco Moschino) includes a tiny tot’s high-fashion jumpsuit for $115.
Each establishment has its own personality, its own slant on fashion or beauty. For years, women have climbed the marble stairs to Jessica’s Nail Clinic to be pampered in the pink and blue salon, where a pedicure or manicure now costs $22. For many, the next “salon” stop is Eleanor Keeshan, a plaza staple since 1970 that specializes in such well-known international designers as Escada, Emanuel Ungaro, Donna Karan and Louis Feraud
Within the gallery-like confines of Oliver Peoples Opticians, the specialty is classic frames designed on the premises. At M Gallery, it is modern jewelry created by owner Michael Dawkins. And at Joan Vass, it is the New York designer’s interpretation of cotton separates, hand-knit sweaters and understated evening wear.
Sunset Plaza’s 40 or so tenants exist in a happy-hamlet atmosphere. They speak well of each other; they have kind words for their landlord, the Montgomery Management Company. But there is a bone of contention: Those with shops on the south side of the street (and scenic back-window views of West Hollywood) believe they have the best of all worlds. Nicky Butler, for example, claims his establishment, Butler & Wilson, is “on the right side of the street.” And neighbor Madeleine Gallay says she crosses to the north side only to get a facial at Ole Henriksen.
Francis J. Montgomery, whose family has owned Sunset Plaza since 1891, chuckles over the dissension and thinks it is based on an old real estate notion that “stores on the south side do better than ones on the north side.”
And while virtually every tenant, north and south, says Sunset Plaza is better today than ever, Montgomery remembers it was always a special place. “I was a little boy when we moved here from Santa Monica in 1920. This whole area was our front yard,” he recalls. “Our family home was up on the hill and all this was poinsettia fields.”
