Sisters of Los Angeles: New line of L.A.-inspired gifts

If the souvenir shops along Hollywood Boulevard are any indication, Los Angeles is about miniature Oscar statuettes and Walk of Fame stars. But how does anyone who actually lives here encapsulate L.A. and why locals love it so?

“People really want something fresh that represents Los Angeles that isn’t just a ‘I heart L.A.,’ ” said Sara Stein, one of the women behind Sisters of Los Angeles, a new line of modern gifts designed by architect Barbara Bestor in conjunction with product development specialist Karen Alweil. “There is nothing for people who live in Los Angeles and love Los Angeles.”

Bestor said she was inspired not by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood but by the natural environment.

“The idea was to have a sensory experience of L.A.,” Bestor said. “As a designer, I like to reaffirm the spectacle of the natural: the sun, the beach, the green of the canyons that we all love to hike, from Topanga to Runyon.”

The Sisters of Los Angeles line, dubbed SoLA, launches from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday at Ron Robinson at Fred Segal in conjunction with Fashion’s Night Out. The SoLA collection includes ceramic mugs with graphics in a palette influenced by the 1984 Olympics, as well as trivets, coasters, playing cards, key chains and embossed leather covers for phones and iPads.

SoLA also will include glassware, T-shirts, tote bags, friendship bracelets, hats and pencils. Custom chocolate bars created by Valerie Confections will be sold wrapped in Bestor’s colorful prints.

The line will be available immediately at Ron Robinson. Deliveries are scheduled for next week at Kitson, Yolk, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the L.A. Philharmonic gift shops, and the Central Library.

Stein said that most of the items are made in L.A. and that nothing costs more than $75. The friendship bracelets are already a hit with a select crowd, Bestor said. “My kids are wearing the rope bracelets with Silver Lake on them.”

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