Bolts of Energy
The Designer: Eduardo Lucero
The Story: Born in Mexico, raised on an Illinois farm, Lucero graduated from Otis / Parsons here in 1989 and went to work as a fashion illustrator, graphic designer and photographer. He also played assistant to such local designers as Henry Duarte of Square Wear and Bill Whitten, who created costumes for the Siegfried & Roy show in Vegas and Janet Jackson’s “1814” concert tour. Lucero teaches drawing in the fashion design department at Otis, and Hollywood has tapped him to do costume illustrations as well as production design sketches for “Batman” and “The Crow.”
Four years ago, at 24, Lucero launched a women’s line of clothing, which begat a men’s line. “I would cut a pair of pants for myself in a fabric from the women’s line and my male friends would ask, ‘Why don’t you cut two more next time?’ ”
To house his growing collection, the designer opened Glossy, a boutique just off the trendy stretch of Beverly Boulevard (neighbors include the eponymous shops of Todd Oldham and Richard Tyler, and the hair salon Estilo) on Martel.
The Goods: “Swimwear to wedding gowns and whatever falls between,” Lucero says. The shapes are basic, the fabrics spectacular. Men’s shirts in turquoise lace or painterly prints. For her, things like a classic fitted blouse in a red and white tiger stripe, glittery black evening separates and a pair of crepe pants with cutouts at the hips.
Prices range from $55 for a simple knit to who knows what for “an amazing suit, made to order with special embroidery and beading.”
The Customer: “High school girls with their parents’ credit cards,” fashion-forward stylists and costume designers. “The men who buy the shirts,” Lucero explains, “range from the die-hard fashion-phile to the guy from Texas who was passing by, walked into the store in his cowboy hat and cowboy shirt and blue jeans, and fell in love with the sheer pink gingham embroidered shirt. He thought it was totally western.”
The Inspiration: In creating clothes for this spring and summer, Lucero thought in hot colors. “Very Latin,” he says, “but not just Latin America.” Spain, Portugal, Cuba, even French gypsies came to mind. But that’s just this season. “We’re not always doing ruffles and flamenco dancers. If you’re a Latin designer, I think people tend to categorize you as doing Latin clothing.”
The Stores: Besides Glossy (176 N. Martel; [213] 939-9646), Traffic and X Collection, both in Los Angeles; Patricia Fields in New York; Xieto in Chicago; Katia in Houston.
The Last Word: “If you’re an independent designer doing quality work in L.A., the only people you can really count on to support you are the movie and video industries and, hopefully, you have friends who are stylists. The local media does not support you at all. The lack of exposure--that’s a big problem.”
