STYLE: FASHION : SHOP TALK : L.A. Designers Open Their Own Stores and Put Their Clothes on the Line
If there’s one thing Gregory Parkinson can’t stand, it’s seeing the hem of one of his delicate lace gowns dragging on dirty cement. So when the 31-year-old Brit opened his eponymous store on Beverly Boulevard two months ago, he turned the drab brown space--a former accounting office--into a stark white showroom, complete with high-gloss enamel floor. Diaphanous earth-toned dresses, jackets and separates hang specimen-like from an undulating aluminum rod, each garment made of fabric Parkinson customizes by hand.
“The only component of fashion I can reinvent each season is fabric,” he says, noting that launching his own label in a city where fine textiles aren’t readily available in small orders has made him more resourceful. By dying, painting, shrinking or fusing cloth, he says, “I take $10-a-yard material and turn it into $50-a-yard fabric.”
Parkinson came to the United States in 1988 to design sportswear for the Gene Ewing Collection; later, he designed wardrobes for entertainers, including Vanessa Williams and Gloria Estefan. Now he hopes to provide eveningwear with a postmodern edge (unfinished seams, clear-sequined fabrics turned inside out) to “young producers and directors who may be buying eveningwear for the first time but don’t see themselves wearing Ivana Trump gowns.” And of his new store, he says: “I can use it almost like a design laboratory, take a lot of chances and be more creative.”
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Jonathan Meizler and German Valdivia may have started small, but they’ve never ceased to think big. From a modest collection of hand-painted silk neckties launched in 1991, the 30s-ish designers have expanded the JonValdi label to a complete line of quirky but elegantly tailored men’s suits, outerwear and eveningwear appealing to a wide range of clients, from Antonio Banderas to Bob Dylan.
JonValdi clothes and the 16-month-old Melrose Avenue shop by the same name share a fresh sense of proportion and detail: The minimalist retail space sports an enormous cherry-framed mirror, snake-like wall sconces and chrome chairs with painted upholstery. As for the clothing, fitted jackets feature high lapels, trousers are cut slim and shirt sleeves end in French cuffs. “Ties were a good canvas,” says Meizler, an assistant film director and painter, who teamed up with Valdivia, a makeup artist, because they shared an interest in art. “Then we decided we wanted to make other pieces we ourselves would want to wear.”
These days, while he and his partner still offer their one-of-a-kind hand-decorated cravats, they’re also busy designing in velvet, leather and cashmere, and experimenting with boiled fabric and surface stitching. Eventually, they’d like to have fabrics woven especially for them, and when they hit the really big time, they hope to branch out into home furnishings and to open stores around the world . Says Meizler: “We’d like to become part of a whole lifestyle.”
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When it comes to clothes, Jeannine Braden has been there and done that. She’s collected Barbie dolls, worked in retail fashion since her high school days on the Westside, styled music videos for Jody Watley and Belinda Carlisle. In 1992, with partner Douglas Beranek, she opened Fred Segal Flair in Santa Monica to offer labels such as Vivienne Westwood, Anna Sui and Marina Spadafora to the likes of Nicole Kidman and Rita Wilson (a.k.a. Mrs. Tom Hanks). The logical next step was introducing her own line, Darla Debonne, the name of her pet chihuahua and her original surname. Braden’s debut collection is an extension of her store, a witty version of a Parisian couture salon and the result of her collaboration with interior designer Steven Ernst.
Echoing the pastels of the striped wallpaper and flounced drapes are retro shift dresses and capri pants, midriff halter tops and pencil skirts tastefully rendered in terry cloth, gingham and tropical prints--Coco Chanel meets Venice Beach. “I listen to what my customers tell me and look at what other designers aren’t doing. Then I try to fill the gap,” says Braden, who’s already at work designing coordinating handbags, totes and backpacks in terry cloth and vinyl.
What more could this 31-year-old designer want? “Bergdorf Goodman or Henri Bendel placing an order would be the end all!”
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Produced and styled by Michael Eisenhower
