LA Fashion District

[soultek]

Has anyone gone around there? Supposedly the most dense retail area in the country. Is there anything good to be had there for a typical board member?

 

[Get Smart]

mostly junk. good for $1 tshirts, $1 socks, those bacon wrapped hotdogs from street vendors

 

[whodini]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

mostly junk. good for $1 tshirts, $1 socks, those bacon wrapped hotdogs from street vendors
+1. A lot of fakes, a lot of no-names. At least you can bargain for the crap you're getting but I wouldn't necessarily go down there thinking whatever I'm about to buy will be quality.

 

[lawyerdad]

+1 on Getsmart's comments
My dad used to buy his suits somewhere down there - if you know where you're going there are probably places to get decent suits for a decent price, at least if your point of comparison is standard OTR department store/Brooks stuff. But in general, it's best for getting relatively cheap stuff even cheaper. Or, if you're looking for fake handbags or jeans or whatever, there's lots of that, too.
If you're not into the street vendors you aren't all that far from the Grand Central Market, which has some pretty good eats, too.

 

[Rye GB]

If your looking for clothes it's all garbage. Alot of knock-offs, a practice I hope no one on this forum supports.

If your looking for fabrics and trim it's great. You can find great Selvage denim from Cone for instance.

Downtown LA is a ****-hole, I thought parts of NYC was ******, Phili isn't pretty either, but LA wins the Gold medal for utter disregard for it's Communities, it's a social failure in every regard.

Thank God I enjoy my job, otherwise I would be nowhere near this place..

 

[matadorpoeta]

there is a lot of good merchandise there, but it's not for retail. if you go into many of the office buildings you will find local designers with sample stores. if you are a buyer you can go there to choose garments for your store. so there is a lot there if you are in the industry, but at the retail lvel it's mostly junk.

there is a store called morovati uomo that sells calzoleria harris shoes. that's the only (retail) quality i've ever found in the garment district.

 

[soultek]

I'm specifically going for fabric, and I have a friend who is in the industry that's taking me there.

I remember going like 10 years ago and thinking that it was a bunch of crap.

I think women like it more to get the 'latest' cheapo thing for even cheaper.

I know there's some showrooms for decent designers there, not open to the public.

Okay, I'll restrict my looking around to fabric and such.

 

[lawyerdad]

Awesome flower market in the early mornings nearby, if that's of any appeal.

 

[whodini]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

Awesome flower market in the early mornings nearby, if that's of any appeal.
I forgot about that. They've also got a relatively-new dining district right around there last time I passed by a few months ago. If I remember correctly, they redid an old warehouse.

 

[josephrex]

Originally Posted by Rye GB

...Downtown LA is a ****-hole, I thought parts of NYC was ******, Phili isn't pretty either, but LA wins the Gold medal for utter disregard for it's Communities, it's a social failure in every regard.

I'd be interested to hear why you think so.

 

[Rye GB]

Should be in a different thread, but since you asked,

Environmental Pollution
Homelessness
Industrial Overkill
Public Transportation
Poor Roads (I have to get my tires patched 3-4 times a year, or replaced completely).
Crime/Drugs/Prostitution.
Overall Aesthetically Chaotic (Yes Disney Concert Hall etc..but that's a diamond in the rough.
Cleanliness. Streets and Sidewalks.
Decrepit housing. (Yes we have new condo's starting at $600k steps from skid row!, wowee!.

I've traveled far and wide and this is my opinion, I'm not speaking on behalf of anyone else but this city is shambolic. It's a hard working city, far more Industrial than I ever imagined but unless your privileged enough to live in The Hills, Brentwood, Palisades or Whodini, Jet and Get Smarts house the other 95% is smeg!.

 

[josephrex]

Originally Posted by Rye GB

Should be in a different thread, but since you asked,

Environmental Pollution
Homelessness
Industrial Overkill
Public Transportation
Poor Roads (I have to get my tires patched 3-4 times a year, or replaced completely).
Crime/Drugs/Prostitution.
Overall Aesthetically Chaotic (Yes Disney Concert Hall etc..but that's a diamond in the rough.
Cleanliness. Streets and Sidewalks.
Decrepit housing. (Yes we have new condo's starting at $600k steps from skid row!, wowee!.

I've traveled far and wide and this is my opinion, I'm not speaking on behalf of anyone else but this city is shambolic. It's a hard working city, far more Industrial than I ever imagined but unless your privileged enough to live in The Hills, Brentwood, Palisades or Whodini, Jet and Get Smarts house the other 95% is smeg!.

Maybe you're just describing downtown, but as for the city as a whole I think that those criticisms are pretty weak and apply to any major city. I am not suggesting that LA doesn't have its own unique problems but compared to not-manhattan NYC and Philly it's ******* paradise.

To raise the signal:noise - the only good shopping downtown in my opinion is at Blends (and the inexplicable high end boutique in the back- MM, CDG, Raf simons) at 4th and Main next to Bar107 and Situationormal right across the street (and I actually hate that place...last season APC and just like union but more attitude).

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by Rye GB

Should be in a different thread, but since you asked,
It's a hard working city, far more Industrial than I ever imagined but unless your privileged enough to live in The Hills, Brentwood, Palisades or Whodini, Jet and Get Smarts house the other 95% is smeg!.
Many of your points are valid, but I don't think this one is. In addition having lived in Brentwood and the Palisades at times, I've lived in various parts of Hollywood and Hollywood-adjacent, Venice, Beverlywood/SoRo, and Los Feliz (south of LF Boulevard, in the "flats" and not the chi-chi "hills" bordering Griffith Park). In addition, I've spent considerable time at the homes of friends and family in areas such as West Hollywood, the ambiguous "midtown", West Adams (some of the most architecturally beautiful homes you'll ever see, btw), Mount Washington/Glassel Park, Monterrey Heights, and almost-LA neighborhoods like Pasadena and South Pas, San Gabriel, and various parts of the Torrance/South Bay area. All have their pluses and minuses, but none can fairly described as "smeg".
LA certainly has plenty of crappy housing and crappy neighborhoods, but it has a lot of great ones, too.

 

[gamelan]

i think the building in LA's fashion district that is most applicable to the Streetwear forum would be the Cooper Building. it normally houses showrooms for small LA designers. but some of those showrooms open their doors to designer's sample sales. i was at a Trovata sample sale earlier this year and there was a Costume National sample sale in the same building which i missed. there's also a Steven Alan store in the building.

-Jeff

 

[Rye GB]

Originally Posted by josephrex

Maybe you're just describing downtown, but as for the city as a whole I think that those criticisms are pretty weak and apply to any major city. I am not suggesting that LA doesn't have its own unique problems but compared to not-manhattan NYC and Philly it's ******* paradise.

To raise the signal:noise - the only good shopping downtown in my opinion is at Blends (and the inexplicable high end boutique in the back- MM, CDG, Raf simons) at 4th and Main next to Bar107 and Situationormal right across the street (and I actually hate that place...last season APC and just like union but more attitude).

Having lived in Europe and the US with extensive travel to Asia during the past 10 years you'll have to accept it as "my" opinion and the fact it was a 30 second reply with some spontaneous thought. Perhaps I'll stick to garment based topics.