Designer Spotlight : Going Ape, but With Class, Is a Temptation in Huntington Beach
“My clothes are not for a woman who falls down swooning in front of King Kong,” said 27-year-old fashion designer Lorie McCarthy of Huntington Beach.
What’s a big ape to do? Find another Fay Wray.
McCarthy’s clothes are sexy and classy, with most of them requiring a kind of bravado to wear them. They definitely inspire thoughts of monkeying around. But only in the best of taste.
“My favorite designers are Chanel and Gianni Versace, since they have a strong look to them,” McCarthy continued. “I would say my clothes are sexy, elegant, not as trendy as some and much more European in style. I believe I’m more ahead of the time, more with the flow of the European designers.”
McCarthy came into fashion design literally by accident. She was living in Florida when she was in a car accident that left her unable to continue her active, sports-filled life. “I’d skied since I was 5, had my own horse and designed sportswear for professional athletes.”
After the accident McCarthy could no longer participate in athletics and, in fact, is glad to be walking. “This new career as a fashion designer is what makes me happy, and it keeps me in-house and helps me forget about the sports.”
McCarthy moved to Orange County 18 months ago to be near her mother in Huntington Beach. It was there she found the ideal location for her shop, Temptations.
“I liked the location since I could create my environment in this old building with its 30-foot ceiling,” she said. McCarthy painted the ceiling in swirling blues and greens to bring the ocean in and then painted the couches to coordinate with it.
“There’s nothing like this down here. At night it really comes alive.”
McCarthy works closely with Dutch designer Paule Rutgers. “We work hand-in-hand. I do my sketches, fax them to her; she faxes me back what she feels is more in tune with the European trend and tells me why. I then revise my draft and send it back to her, telling her what kinds of fabrics I believe will sell in the (United States). I revamp more for the US mind. She makes my sample. If I like it, then we reproduce it here.”
Occasionally McCarthy flies to France to look at new designs and fabrics, and Rutgers comes here for meetings.
“Rutgers designs covers for European Cosmopolitan and European Elle. She’s very big in Europe and lets me know of new fabrics coming in.”
Some of the fabrics they are both excited about are the soft velvets with Lycra blends that are very flexible and comfortable to wear, with none of the stiffness of older velvets. Macrame silk is also an important fabric.
In the store is a macrame, forest-green long sweater; the original was designed for Cher. “She wears it with nothing on underneath, but most people would wear a Lycra-silk body suit that is like wearing old pajamas.”
Another outfit McCarthy designed for a celebrity, Daryl Hannah, is a short, full velvet skirt that has turkey feathers under it. “The turkey boa petticoat can be worn under it for a new look, or it can be omitted. A crushed velvet bustier goes with it.”
Temptations also has a black evening dress that uses black turkey feathers around the neck as an accent. “Customers are hesitant about the turkey feathers until they try them on. Then they love them.”
The other look that McCarthy sees coming from Europe is the sheer, breast-baring one. “We’re not ready for that here, so I designed a 100% black, sheer silk top with quarter-shaped dots all over it. That way you can wear a smile and fragrance, or wear the top under a blazer and jacket. That makes the look sexy and classy.”
For the spring, McCarthy sees more fashion coming from the Far East and, in fact, she has some evening outfits from Indonesia in stock. Besides these looks, Temptations has jeans with funky and elegant patches or leather, over-sized pajama tops to be worn as blouses or jackets, high-quality leopard prints, hand-made vests and very revealing lingerie.
It’s no wonder it’s called Temptations.
