They’ve Got It Covered
Like trying to sell ice cream in a blizzard, selling coats in Los Angeles doesn’t sound like the cleverest of business ideas. But designers Carrie Kneitel and Lori Batt aren’t plying unseasonable furs or bulky tweeds. They are trying to revive the elegant 1960s party coat.
“Coats can be an accessory,” Kneitel, 30, said recently at the mid-Wilshire-district house the duo uses as a showroom. “They can make an outfit or cover up a bad one. They are the perfect polisher,” added the preppy Batt, 30, who seems to be so attached to her pearls that she must sleep with them on.
With visions of Babe Paley, Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy dancing in their heads, the two introduced their line last year. Careful students of brand identity, they named it edward an, a fictional muse they created who spends her days sailing and playing tennis, her nights sipping wine and wearing pearls, of course.
The three-quarter-length coats ($200 to $600) conjure up images of chic chignons, cocktail rings with jewels the size of dinner rolls and a time when, as their Web site states, “sophistication counted for something.” Sleek Mackintoshes come in canary yellow, apple green and other Palm Springs colors, duchess satin princess coats in jewel-toned fuchsia and basic black. Military denim numbers have “ea” logo belts designed by Kneitel, a former graphic designer. So far, pieces have been snapped up by American Rag, Fred Segal Flair, Aero & Co. and several boutiques in New York and San Francisco. (Visit www.edwardan.com.)
The fledgling fashion label also has a seed of a celebrity following. In August, Kneitel and Batt headed to New York to show their product. Little did they know they’d score a coup en route when they were bumped off their flight and onto Gwyneth Paltrow’s. Walking past the fashion plate in first class, they made a snap decision to show her their look book. It paid off; a few days later, Paltrow’s assistant phoned in an order for a black denim double-breasted coat with gold buttons and a black satin topper.
Before moving here, Batt worked for three years in product development at Kate Spade in New York. But when she and Kneitel (they met in L.A., through their husbands) decided to start their own company, they chose L.A.--a city they believe lends itself to entrepreneurship. “There are great factories here and affordable space. Those are factors when you are trying to do something and you’re not financed by LVMH [fashion conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton],” said Batt, whose shiny brown hair is pulled back in a tidy ponytail.
She and Kneitel, a redhead who wears pink mules and sports a tribal tattoo on her right leg, clearly enjoy spinning the image of edward an as much as the actual design process. She’s feminine and masculine, retro and contemporary, the kind of woman, according to Batt, who could teach us all how to dress.
