Fashion Police

The editors of Vice magazine appointed themselves fashion police more than 10 years ago, when they started publishing their frequently hilarious, always sarcastic “Dos and Don’ts” column, which acidly lambasted fashion mistakes.

The magazine’s chiefs also put themselves on trial by opening a chain of hip contemporary casual boutiques. On a recent visit to the Vice store in Los Angeles’ Sunset Junction neighborhood, manager/ buyer Theodore Gilliam listed a couple of the store’s fashion “Dos.”

For guys, the fashion “Do” was jeans made by Los Angeles– based Corpus Denim. These pants forgo the popular low-rise waist and feature a back pocket cut with a oneof- a-kind curve that Gilliam called a banana shape. He also said these jeans were cut tight around the knee and baggy to regular around the thighs, making them accessible for every body type. Corpus price points are $154 for denim pants, $51 for sandblasted T-shirts, $97 for vintageinspired sweat shirts and $275 for denim blazers.

For gals, the fashion “Dos” were one-of-akind tops and dresses by Los Angeles designer Brian Lichtenberg. Price points range from $44 to $350. Gilliam said that Lichtenberg’s tube tops are popular because they are lightweight and boast artsy details, such as a quilt-like patchwork on the front of the tops.

Also selling well is Lichtenberg’s “Mutant Top,” a tube top with cut-away shoulders. Designs range from simple stripes to exotic purple sparkles speckled on a fine purple mesh.

Lichtenberg displayed his work in July at Vice’s trunk show series, “Local Werd.” The shows are dedicated to Los Angeles designers and artists, including Tim Reid and Marlene Salcido. Gilliam said he hopes these happenings will become as well-known as the magazine that people always request in his store.

“[Vice] is free. It’s funny, and we have to bat people away from the store when we’re out of it.” —Andrew Asch