Since the beginning of the 2006 Christmas season, many retailers have been searching for a direction in the fashion market, yet inspiration might be waiting at Los Angeles’ West Third Street.

In the past six years, the retail thoroughfare has emerged as a style leader with its own angle on California looks, according to Janine Blain, West Coast director of New York–based fashion forecaster and consultant The Doneger Group.

“It’s Los Angeles,” Blain said of the look favored by the street’s retailers. “But it’s not the flashy, Hollywood side of L.A. It’s contemporary. It’s designer. It’s high-end, avant-garde.”

For the more than 20 fashion boutiques on West Third Street, encouraging a new look seems to have relied on an unspoken agreement to share a big risk. The overwhelming majority of these boutiques devotes a sizable portion of their compact floor space to new and emerging designers, many of whom rarely get a chance to show collections at other retailers.

However, none of these West Third boutiques attempt to stake a claim to a dominant look on the street. Each store has an individual style, from Satine, located at 8117 W. Third St., with its penchant for new designers with a sophisticated and feminine look, to Scout, at 7920 W. Third St., which created a splash when it opened in 2003, offering a selection of vintage designer clothes and fashions with a raw, rock ’n’ roll edge.

And this gamble on individual style has paid off. Retailers sharing similar views on fashion are clambering to move on the street. September marked the debut of Memenic at 8300 1/2 W. Third St. It specializes in new designers, many of whom are based in London. In July 15, Filly, another boutique devoted to emerging designers, opened at 8032 W. Third St. More than four fashion boutiques are anticipated to open on this bustling street by the end of 2007.

The burgeoning number of boutiques, the rising profile of the street’s restaurants, such as Joan’s On Third and Toast, and the occasional reporting on thoroughfare shops by periodicals such as the New York Times, GQ and Lucky, have all helped boost the street’s retail traffic, said Alisa Loftin, co-owner of Aero & Co., at 8403 W. Third St.

“It still feels like the street is poised to get better and better,” Loftin said. “But the question now is how do you sell to the tourists?”

Since moving to the street in 2002, Loftin has relied on selling designs to style-conscious Angelenos. To appeal to tourists, who frequently make impulse buys, Loftin has been experimenting with offering more homewares and gifts. But the main focus of the store will remain fashion.

Popular styles include a black, baby-doll dress with a balloon- shaped hem by New York–based designer Octopi. It retails for $248. Aero’s customers also demonstrated high interest in emerging Los Angeles designer Figment. The designer’s dress with a linen collar retails for $288.

South Willard, located at 8038 W. Third St., seems to favor a subtle look for its collections. Top-selling items include an understated, but classicstyled, gray men’s suit made by Los Angeles–based label Band of Outsiders. The suit costs $1,573. Another popular men’s suit, this one black, was produced by Belgian designer Veronique Branquinho. It retails for $1,350.

EM & Co., located at 7940 W. Third St., devotes one-third of its collection to Los Angeles designers, according to boutique owner Eveline Morel. One of the boutique’s best-selling items is a navy-blue jumper by Los Angeles–based label Issho. The jumper retails for $265.

The Romanian-born Morel also stocks many up-and-coming European labels. Sheer jersey tops made by Italianbased Japanese designer Michiko Koshino have been popular. The label’s long-sleeved T-shirt retails for $189. A cotton and cashmere dress constructed by Italian-based label Twin Set costs $228. A silk dress, with Greco-Roman draping, was produced by New York–based Laila Azhar. It retails for $440.

Morel plans to continue to stake her boutique’s future on emerging and sometimes unproven labels. It’s what makes West Third Street exciting, she said. “We’re willing to be ahead of the pack,” Morel assured.