Style That’s Anything but Stuffy
You may not know his name now, but if fashion insiders are correct, Los Angeles designer James Sowins will become well-known to customers looking for the kind of clothes you’d get if designs from the patrician Ralph Lauren met up with the surfwear gods at Stussy.
Sowins and his Level 7 line were selected to be featured in the West Coast edition of a fashion show put on by Gen Art, a New York group that promotes emerging stars in fashion, film and other arts. Gen Art’s Fresh Faces in Fashion is scheduled for Nov. 8 at the Park Plaza Hotel in downtown L.A.
“James’ styling is so fresh, so clean,” said Megan Griffith, fashion director for the event, now in its second year. “He offers a beautiful representation of contemporary menswear, not just for West Coast fashion, but American fashion overall.”
David Fisher, senior vice president of menswear for Bloomingdale’s, is a fan:
“James is definitely one of the up-and-coming designers,” he said from New York. “James has the pulse on this dynamic designer-oriented young customer. He also has a business head by not making the clothes so expensive for this customer. He’s very bright and very focused. He’s helped us develop a new genre in Bloomingdale’s.”
That new genre of fashion-conscious young men’s wear includes lines as varied as DKNY, Kenneth Cole, For You and Level 7 hanging with more street- and action-wear brands such as Quiksilver, Hurley and Tag Rag. Increasingly being wooed to these departments are 18- to 39-year-olds who pride themselves on appearance and have a more sophisticated sense of fashion than, well, their fathers.
It’s guys such as REM’s Michael Stipe, Radiohead’s Tom Yorke and Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath who dial direct to the 37-year-old Sowins for their own personal Level 7 orders. (McGrath is actually a longtime fan, having been Sowins’ fit model when money was tight and his band was not yet a staple of MTV.)
Sowins considers himself his own best muse. “I do me,” he says, grinning.
He splits his workweek between an office in Irvine and his home in Altadena. He and his wife of seven years, Rita, a graphic designer of oversized books, relish good, spare design--be it mid-century furniture or a commercial logo.
“Young people today are very educated when it comes to fashion, to style,” says Sowins. “They want quality. But they want value, too.”
The customers Sowins and his contemporaries seek have a flagrant affinity for fashion. They might even flirt with designer buzz brands such as Prada and Gucci, but they would never be caught in too much of it. Status among this crowd is measured by frequent-flier miles or high-tech toys, not designer clothing.
Sowins keeps that in mind when creating pieces for the 4-year-old Level 7. The clothes are modern and clean. Suits are not heavily constructed. Tropical weight shirts have hidden button plackets. A seam provides a distinguishing, yet subtle detail to a windbreaker-style jacket.
“It’s sportswear,” says Sowins, “so it should have a flexible, individual feel.”
Sowins started as a painter, but shifted to fashion while still attending the Otis Parsons Art Institute (before the Parsons was dropped). “I realized painters only make money when they’re dead,” he jokes.
His most valuable education, however, happened after class, at Maxfield, the legendary West Hollywood boutique. There he met the head designers at the Italian house Byblos. He graduated in 1988 with a degree in fashion design and a job as a Byblos assistant designer.
Engaged to Rita, Sowins took off for Milan. There he learned about quality and craftsmanship. Fourteen months later, he landed at Mossimo, which was in need of direction and a designer. He left after five years in 1995, just before the Irvine company went public.
Sowins wanted to strike out on his own, but knew it would be difficult and expensive. Enter C&C;, an umbrella company that owns surfwear maker Rusty. C&C; provided the infrastructure, the not-so-fun stuff such as accounting and shipping. Sowins focuses on creating the line and the image.
Recently, Sowins added a president of sales and merchandising to his lean staff. Craig Holzberg left Diesel, because, he says, Sowins is “one of the freshest and most innovative designers out there. He has this amazing passion for the business.”
Right now, Sowins is zeroing in on his latest creation. No, it’s not fitting the right outfits on the right models for Monday’s Gen Art event. It’s baby Sara Kaitlin, born Oct. 1.
“She’s a supermodel,” beams dad.
Gen Art show information: (310) 823-5321. Tickets are $40.
