The life he’s fashioned for himself near home
When Louis Verdad puts women in pinstripes, they ooze sexiness, not boardroom. The fashion designer has been the hit of L.A. Fashion Week for the last few years with his Old Hollywood-inspired styles. This Sunday, he’ll be showing his collection in Culver City to close out the fall fashion week.
Verdad was born in Chicago, raised in Guanajuato, Mexico, and has lived in Los Angeles for about 18 years, 15 of them in Silver Lake. “I relate to the people and the atmosphere there,” he said, “the nature-hippie-yuppie-Spanish-narco-traffic vibe.”
Aaah! Is that me?
Every Saturday before I get up, at 6 or 7 a.m., I watch “Fashion File” on the Style network. I mean, religiously. They preview the collections from Europe, and sometimes I get to see what I look like on TV. You should see me in bed, blankets pulled up to my eyes. There’s no one worse than me to see myself on camera.
What I like to do next is go to a little coffee place called Madame Matisse. I love their pancakes. I look forward to their blueberry pancakes every Saturday. It’s just about no company at all, just going by yourself and having your coffee. Sometimes I sit out in front of the counter and talk to the owner.
After that, many times what I do is go to St. Vincent de Paul, a thrift store, in Lincoln Heights, to shop and get inspired. I go there, or to Pomona, where there’s a district of antique shops along 2nd Street, about six blocks full. I found amazing leather gloves and really incredible furs. I don’t like to do fur in my collection, so I find furs and recycle them. I also look particularly for knits from the 1940s to 1960s. Chantilly lace is also beautiful and had details that really talk about that period.
Part of the floor show
On most Saturday nights, I get my friends Anna, Priscilla and Tilly -- and we always go out to El Conquistador for margaritas. We’ll stay there and eat all the chips on every table.
For a special dinner, I go to Vermont. It’s a very classy, eclectic restaurant with five-star cuisine, very hip and young. You might run into Kiefer Sutherland or people from “Six Feet Under” or Gwen Stefani having dinner with her husband. Or it might be someone edgy who works at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. It’s a friendly atmosphere, and the food is good. I love their filet mignon.
They have a great bar too, so we might stay there. If not, we go to the Dresden Room. It’s a great restaurant, and they have a piano bar, so people get up and sing. I have litchi martinis and get drunk and make a fool of myself singing in French with a Spanish accent.
Perusing books and pies
I love Silver Lake and Los Feliz; it’s very bohemian. You can feel that air of creativity, and I am always excited by the mix of things there. I love to walk through the little bohemian stores, the used clothes and antiques, and Skylight Books, where you can spend hours looking at coffee-table books. Or I might stop at the House of Pies. I love pie. I’m all about the coffee shops: Astro and House of Pies.
To me, the weekends are all about comfort, good food and good music. Sundays, for instance, we’re at the Farmers Market, having breakfast at Du-par’s. I love their pancakes for the boysenberry sauce. Oh, my God, it’s heaven.
And there’s this flea market on Sunday at Fairfax and Melrose. I’m very inclined to look for jewelry at that one. I want to do a collection that’s based on pins.
*
-- Robin Rauzi
