City Smarties
With all the attention given to fashion designers in New York, Milan and Paris, those who live and work in Los Angeles often are overlooked within traditional fashion circles. But Sunday, the spotlight will be on William Beranek and Jenisa Washington, two local designers who will be formally receiving awards that were announced earlier from the CaliforniaMart at the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood.
The CaliforniaMart, a downtown wholesale apparel center, is also honoring the Gap, Richard Tyler and Roxy by Quicksilver with awards voted upon by a special committee.
California Designer Award: The 37-year old Beranek, a native of Argentina, created his William B. line in 1994. The look is pure California. Flirty, beaded fringe skirts, leopard-print slim-fitting pants, wrap skirts covered with tropical hibiscus flowers and buttery fuchsia suede tops reflect the laid-back attitude he acquired growing up in Torrance.
Getting to the point now where his clothes are sold in stores nationally has been a rough five-year odyssey.
After taking just two classes at Otis Parsons School of Fashion Design in L.A., the Torrance High School graduate started a menswear line in 1994. Less than a year later, he was offering women’s wear as well, both at designer prices. Sales did not take off, according to Beranek, because his prices were too high for an unknown designer. He was forced to lay off employees and almost dropped out of the business altogether.
To stay afloat, he lowered prices 30% in 1996 and increased the number of collections he produced from two to six in 1995. He also began dating stylist Jeannine Braden, owner of Fred Segal Flair in Santa Monica, whom he credits with much of his success.
It was Braden who came up with the idea for hot-selling beaded fringe skirts..
“I bought a Fendi bag and got such an adrenaline rush from the piece. I told William he should design an item that is special and ornate--a skirt that’s like a Fendi bag,” she explains.
Her store sells quite a few William B. pieces, and, as a CaliforniaMart Awards committee member, she did vote for Beranek for the award.
“A dynamic duo is a good way to describe us,” Beranek says. “She helps me in what I do.” The couple had their first child, Mason, in August.
Emerging Designer Award: Jenisa Washington, 30, introduced Sold Apparel last year. She has made a name for herself creating tailored skirts, tube dresses, sleeveless tops and boxy jackets made out of leather as thin as any fabric.
Washington’s “biker chic” look is favored by Winona Ryder, Gwyneth Paltrow and Courteney Cox. Madonna wore Sold Apparel in a February Harper’s Bazaar photo spread and her “Beautiful Stranger” music video.
Washington is no stranger to the music business--she was a member of Eve and signed to MCA Records.
It was not lucrative, so she began working in clothing boutiques Agnes B. and Laura Urbanati. Doing personal shopping for Rebecca De Mornay and other celebrities gave Washington an entree into styling for a Gap commercial and several music videos.
“By 1998, I had enough of being a glorified dresser for crybaby celebrities,” she says.
Sold Apparel is now carried at Fred Segal, American Rag Cie, Barneys New York and other stores.
Booth Moore can be e-mailed at booth.moore@latimes.com.
