Cross-Dressing
That beer commercial that combines two disparate sports--like full contact football with golf? Apparently such twisted fantasies are common. Take designer James La Fave, who included authentic pro hockey jerseys in his snowboard apparel line, Poorhouse. “It can be worn instead of a T-shirt, and you won’t get wet or scraped up from granules of ice,” he says. The $50 top is sold at his Laguna Beach shop, Galaxy, and other Poorhouse distributors.
Like a Virgin
Move over Hard Rock Cafe. The craze to collect hats and tees has spread to the Virgin Megastore chain. “Our best-sellers are items listing the city,” notes spokesman Patrick Kelly. Products from the “Newport Beach” store (actually in Costa Mesa) have become among the hottest, adds Kelly, who gets requests to send baseball caps from stores in Tokyo, Paris and the U.S. (but you’ll have to go there yourself). Great sales in O.C. have triggered the company to expand the L.A. store’s apparel department. So is it the thrill wearing a sign stating “Virgin”? “It is the logo, but people love what it represents--our company, the record label, the airlines,” Kelly says. “Our corporate culture is known for going against the grain.”
Monster Protection
From the ever-expanding apparel collection at Sesame Street come aprons for bakers of all ages ($17-$20). Most styles feature that prince of pastry--Cookie Monster. And it’s more than parents who are tying one on. “There’s a whole group of middle school to college-aged kids who have become a big market for us,” says a spokeswoman. With the apron dress still a part of fashion, these covers could look tasty as nightclub wear over a dress or jeans.
Hear Us Roar
While most would cast aside print ads as trash (and most deserve such a fate), there are those that warrant being torn out and tacked to the wall or kept in a journal. For a decade, Donna Karan’s poignant, black-and-white campaign has celebrated the modern woman and all she can achieve--whether it’s running a household or a nation. “Donna believed it was much more personal, the story of being a woman, than showing fashion editorial,” says company spokeswoman Patty Cohen. Karan’s favorite images are now available in a hard-cover coffee table book ($25). With only 5,000 printed, the book could earn $70,000 for the American Red Cross. Selections are on exhibit at Nordstrom, South Coast Plaza from Monday through Feb. 13.
