Bicoastal Focus at Notic Showroom
Melissa Assa and Michelle Stephens could best be described as freethinkers when they launched the Noeuml;tic Showroom in the Cooper Design Space in January 2004.
“It’s a different vibe than everything else that’s going on across the street,” Stephens said. “It’s just new and fresh, and it has good energy.”
Noeuml;tic means “based on the intellect,” and that definition is imprinted on the showroom floor. Although Stephens claims there is no significant reason why they chose the name, the thought that went into the showroom has apparently created success. In just a little over a year, the pair have expanded and opened a showroom in New York.
Assa worked at the 10 Eleven showroom in The New Mart for eight years and co-founded and operated the S.A.M. showroom in the same building for a year and a half. Stephens gained experience as a sales rep at the Hatch showroom in The New Mart for almost four years and worked with Assa at S.A.M.
Noeuml;tic offers a variety of merchandise, including T-shirts, denim, dresses, menswear, home goods and full collections. The bulk of the offerings come from new Southern California–based lines as well as from established local lines such as Laguna Beach, Calif.–based Kerry Cassill’s colorful cotton clothing and housewares. Several New York lines— including Nicholas K, Unis, Olga Kapustina and Alexander Wang—inhabit the showroom.
Los Angeles–based Harkham, which launched in late 2004, is a feminine yet edgy collection of vintage-inspired tops, skirts, dresses and jackets. The look is romantic, with beautiful silks tea-dipped and aged for a washed and worn look. For Fall, designer Darena Yee added knits, washed leather jackets and coats, and cotton twill and Italian wool bottoms. Wholesale price points range from $79 to $90 for tops to $265 for a leather coat.
Carbonsix, a new line of women’s and men’s denim apparel launched for Spring ’05, is the design debut of Sienna Watson, who recently managed the upscale Resurrection Vintage store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Modern and clean, Carbonsix is made from durable twill-weave cotton and features subtle details and sophisticated fits. Wholesale price points range from $54 to $73 for skirts and jeans and from $84 to $90 for jackets and blazers.
Pink Dice, launched in 2004, provides comfortable knit novelty tees that can transition into night. Flirty, fun and girly, the tops feature sexy details and shapes in solid, tie-dyed and striped Modal, cotton jersey, fleece and baby-thermal fabrics. Wholesale price points range from $30 to $49.
Colorful hippie-chic styles in gauze, silk and cotton twill, and corduroy make up the Mimo collection, which shipped for the first time in January. The line includes baby-doll tunics, lacetrimmed tube dresses, off-theshoulder gauze blouses, printed silk skirts, and cotton twill and corduroy pants. Wholesale price points are $35 for camis, $76 to $86 for tunics and dresses, and $84 to $86 for skirts and pants.
San Francisco–based handbag line Goldenbleu, which launched in May 2004, features unusually shaped leather styles in a range of metallic and jewel tones. Wholesale price points range from $70 to $220.
ParkVogel, launched in January 2004, is a luxury line made from gauzy, soft and sheer Italian yarns, mercerized cotton crepe, and jersey and tubular ribs. Wholesales prices range from $21 for camis to $90 for cashmere sweaters. Styles also include classic tees, tunics and long-sleeved tops.
Primo Darby is a new men’s and women’s graphic T-shirt and sweat-shirt line featuring original artwork by photographer Erik Ian and his partner, Kenny Nix. Wholesale price points are $23 for tees and $32 for sweat shirts.
Emilynoelle was created when designer Emily Kersman left Primp to start a new line with Noelle Vazzano. The collection, which wholesales for $30 to $85, includes tees and sweats in cotton fleece with gold foil leaves and birds and gauzy cotton tops, blouses, skirts and dresses with ruffle details.
For more information, visit suite 221 of the Cooper Design Space, or call (213) 614-7924. —N. Jayne Seward
