Santa Ana Winds Are Blowing at L.A.-Conscious Harper’s Bazaar
Katherine Betts came to town this week to celebrate not just her first year at the helm of the country’s oldest fashion magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, but also the very thing that used to get L.A. dissed by anyone east of Doheny: its style.
Bazaar came to celebrate what Betts sees as the essence of L.A.--sizzling fashion, Hollywood power brokers, glorious homes and the hot young stars that seem to pop up in every convertible cruising Pacific Coast Highway.
Not long ago, the New York fashion press deigned to visit only at Oscar time for a chance to snarl at the stars’ bad taste. Still, the visiting press seems awed that there are actually style and culture beyond the Hudson River. A headline on a Bazaar story about new stars and Hollywood power brokers heralds a new attitude: “L.A. Operators. Think Los Angeles takes a backseat to New York? Not a chance . . . .” And the issue’s list of what’s mandatory for the season ahead includes “A ticket to L.A. (one-way).”
Could L.A. finally be getting credit for the trends it has contributed to fashion for so long?
Staging parties, meeting retailers and writing stories about the city is a way to “establish our presence here,” said a perfectly coiffed Betts, who hosted a star-studded party Wednesday at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills.
Earlier in the week, at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool, she stopped to chat over a cup of coffee (caffeinated). Wearing a trim black cardigan, baby-blue suede sandals free of New York street grit and an electric-blue Calvin Klein snakeskin skirt, Betts, who isn’t prone to gushing, gushed, “I love L.A.”
As she praised the city and its contributions to fashion, Betts ticked off a list of what she likes: “The obvious stuff--the red-carpet culture is very L.A. And that young, entrepreneurial spirit, in my mind, that’s more of a West Coast thing.”
And in fashion: “The whole vintage trend, which is huge in fashion this fall. A lot of the vintage dealers are here. I think a lot of the great pieces are coming from L.A.”
One of her favorite stores: “I love Fred Segal for the sort of L.A., California vibe it has,” she said. (The Melrose store’s mannequins decked in Army gear inspired a photo shoot concept she’s toying with.)
So far, much of the magazine’s renewed attention to Los Angeles hasn’t focused beyond the obvious--Hollywood. And not every issue grants the city multiple mentions. In the much-heralded February issue, the first completely under her direction, a shopping section called, “The Bazaar: The Ultimate Shopping Guide,” includes only one reference to L.A., the second-largest retail center in the largest country in the world. Hmmm.
Why is the city hitting Harper’s radar screens now?
“In general, I think the Internet has decentralized everything. So L.A., after New York, is the next capital,” she said.
“We are trying to break new talent in many areas, not just fashion,” she said. The July issue, built around a “next” theme, includes features on L.A. actors Jason Biggs and Amy Smart, and “American Pie” writers Chris and Paul Weitz, as well as the groundbreaking fetal surgery being performed at UC San Francisco’s medical school.
Betts has beefed up Harper’s California coverage by making the formerly part-time L.A.-based West Coast editor a full-time position and adding two staffers to the San Francisco office.
In her first visit here in 18 months, Betts lunched with advertisers, toured stores with an old friend and investigated trends from Melrose Avenue to Beverly Hills. Scouring the city for the next hot find is old hat to the one-time Vogue reporter. While covering the fashion beat for the Conde Nast magazine, Betts worked to include more Los Angeles designers, stores and hot spots in the regular feature Vogue’s Index, she said.
Bazaar is attempting to capture some of the myths and realities of this city of dreams. A December fashion layout staged last year at a Playboy Mansion party blended fantasy and reality. While stars and models sipped martinis, Bazaar stylists dressed them in the season’s looks.
Up next? Another enduring California cliche gets the fantasy-reality treatment--the Malibu beach party. Shot in early June, the party was overrun with celebrities: “Leo. Matt. Ben,” she said, rattling off others on her first-name-basis list. How very L.A.
