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Speak easy of the LA scene
Date Added: 2009-12-15
Now I'm back in England my trip to Los Angeles seems like a distant memory. Yes, I spent a lot of time shopping on Melrose Avenue and, no, I didn’t spend the whole visit looking around salons. My simple mission now is to round up all the stories, news and gossip I’ve collected from the West Coast.
First, a bit of hairy news for you: The Frédéric Fekkai brand is going mass market. The haircare line is to be sold in regular chemists whilst Fekkai’s upgraded line will continue to be sold at high-end stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue. Whether his other brands will follow and find their way into Walgreens remains to be seen. Who knows? The brand could even find its way overseas.
The scene in Los Angeles has, like everywhere, been influenced by the rise of social networking, word-of-mouth and the growing DIY culture. We visited Roger Rooms, a bar with no sign above the door, nothing to tell you it's there and no PR except an enthusiastic recommendation from a guy we met a few blocks away. The bar was known as a Speakeasy. Our next trip into downtown LA took us to bars, loft parties and yet again more secluded drinking dens. The Speakeasy format is definitely taking off in Los Angeles, but another thing that caught my attention is that social networking has become so important, it is literally changing people’s lives (and I’m not just talking about internet sensation Tavi). ‘Shit my Dad Says’ is a twitter account set up by a loser who lives at home with his Dad and has now become a national phenomenon. The man behind it is Justin Halpern who starting tweeting quotes from his father and, after securing a following of over 1,000 people, has now been signed up by television network, CBS, to help produce his own show.
Los Angeles is not simply packed full of trendy hipsters and people hoping to make the big time, there are also amazing shops, hair salons and people to meet. We took a trip to Los Feliz to check out the older scene, such as The Dresden – a bar and restaurant made famous during the swing scene of the 1990’s. We also went shopping down Melrose Avenue which is filled, almost exclusively, with interesting vintage boutiques. Also a new shopping village has emerged in Beverley Hills called The Grove. Born out of the original farmers market, the area is decorated like a small village within a city.
During my time in Los Angeles I noticed that the street style was, for the most part, very casual and hair was worn in simple styles. Fashion-wise, some things from this side of the pond are making it over – All Saints, for example, is set to open in LA, followed by locations in Miami and New York. However, for all the trend setting scenes in Los Angeles, the hairy world in the UK seems to posess a creativity that is visible, not only in the salons, but also on the streets.
Image: Street style outside a restaurant in Los Angeles.
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