The Vines Of Fred Segal

Those luxuriant vines that cover the white walls of the ever-chic Fred Segal store at the corner of Melrose Avenue and Crescent Heights Boulevard aren’t some exotic import from Tuscany but down-market descendants of the family ficus, and some of them are as old as the store, which opened in 1965. As Fred Segal has thrived, so have the vines, which now total anywhere from 75 to 100 individual plants. The ficus are no taller than six inches when bought in their gallon pots, but with daily watering and near-year-round sun, they grow quickly, their social climbing halted only when they threaten to obfuscate the Fred Segal name itself. When that happens, groundskeepers Martine Segura and Isidoro Quinones whip out the clippers, scale a ladder and painstakingly trim around those distinctive red and blue letters. The vines have become such an integral part of the Fred Segal aesthetic, one wonders that without them, might the whole building tumble down?