The denizens of L.A. have long been anaesthetized by years of Hollywood fashion, cowed by the local celebrity culture into believing that middle-of-the-road glamour is the height of taste. There is one store in L.A. that is attempting to change that by bringing L.A. up to date with the international fashionistas.
Fendi Paige, a new store located on the Sunset Strip (a skip away from the trendy hipster hotel The Standard), is a fashion Mecca for those who are sick and tired of the banality of L.A. fashion scene. Spurning the tendency of L.A. store buyer’s to stock up on the safest and most conservative designs by various designers, Elliot Tommy, the owner of the store believes in introducing adventurous shapes, colors and fabrics to the fashion illiterates of Babylon. Take the example of their Helmut Lang collection. Now the last time I checked at the supposedly fashion forward stores such as Barneys, or Maxfield, I could only find a bunch of anonymous black suits. Granted they are Helmut Lang, but I swear they are the lowest common denominator version of his distinctive style. In contrast Fendi Paige stocks up on many of Lang’s more daring utility-chic design for both men and women. Indeed, many of the pieces by various designers such as Gaultier, Versace and Montana could only be found here in the store. The store also stocksmany new designers such as exte, Lavon Meridien, and Joe Inferno.
Fendi Paige also has an in-store line called Sfazo, designed by Elliot Tommy in collaboration with his partners in Milan. I particularly admire his line of colorful neo-vintage shirts for men, done in sheer hi-tech synthetics with retro-seventies prints. The fabric has a good drape, but is deceptively light. I am just not sure how they would go down in a town where straight men dress like sparrows and gay men look like casualties from the International Male catalogue. For the less adventurous but subtly chic, Sfarzo also does a line of elegant suits done in fabrics subtle blends of natural fibers and synthetics.
The women’s wear collection could be similarly divided into two categories, in line with the spirit of the schizophrenic Nineties, whereby maximalism and minimalism not only coexist but reign happily over the fiefdom of fashion. I liked the line of simple shift-and-knee-length-coat combos done in an interesting linen/synthetic blend, that reads as wool from the distance, without the accompanying weight. There is also a more flamboyant line done in bright prints and metallics: colorful trousers in cotton and lycra, sheer-on-solid dresses—very sexy, very Italian.
Elliot Tommy is optimistic about introducing the cutting edge to LA, but he believes that it is going to take several years before L.A. is going to be on par with fashion capitals such as Milan or New York. He compares it to the way in which the colorful prints of Versace were being received when its first came out. The shock of the new eventually became a trademark style which people would recognize and appreciate. In the same way, he believes, the denizens of L.A. will acclimatize themselves to the sensibilities of international fashion, and wean themselves off of their parochial fashion habits. I think L.A fashionistas should cancel their plane tickets to New York. They can save themselves from an expensive and buttock-numbing flight to Gotham, because they can now satiate their fashion cravings locally. Between you and me, I have actually reconsidered flying to Montreal for my monthly fix at Le Creteurs, my favorite fashion haunt of the moment.A word of the store d*cor: Unlike most of the local high-end fashion stores that equate sterile modernist interiors with taste, Elliot Tommy adopts an eclectic maximalist approach to his interiors. Animal and Italian Baroque prints are juxtaposed with dramatic effect, and the basement has a lounge area for clients to sit down for a cup of coffee or a glass of red wine, while they pontificate over their next fashion acquisition.
I would like to say “Bon Apetit,” but since fashion is an adventure in itself, maybe I should, instead, say “Bon Voyage.”
Fendi Paige is located at 7445 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood CA 90044
by by grace quek
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