California Apparel News

For those on a quest for Elvis Presley–era biker jackets, one place to search is Retro Row in Long Beach, Calif. But Graham Day thinks the Southern California city’s venerable vintage shopping strip, located on East Fourth Street, might be ready for something new. On March 9, Day opened Shelter Surf Shop with his wife, Kim.

Located in the middle of Retro Row at 2148 E. Fourth St., the 1,200-squarefoot shop sells new and independent wave-riding fashions. One of the shop’s missions is to showcase surfing as an art-inspired sport and culture. Yet Day also believes that by doing business in a place such as Retro Row, his shop is compelled to offer fashion as unique as the street, even if his styles do not claim the vintage pedigree of neighboring shops Meow and Sneaky Tiki Boutique.

The top-selling style at Shelter is a $20 T-shirt bearing the surf shop’s logo designed by surf artist Tyler Warren. Another independent brand selling well is Yellow Rat, based in Los Angeles’ Mar Vista neighborhood. A pair of Yellow Rat’s fitted corduroy pants, reportedly inspired by a classic surf look, retails for $72.

Surfwear takes on a 1980s-style streetwear look with Gonz!, a Los Angeles–based label that has been selling well at Shelter. Its Tshirts, with a smart-aleck sense of humor, sell for $50 at Shelter.

In the “not-really-surfwear department,” a popular item is the women’s “Sailor Culottes” sweat pant designed by Irvine, Calif.–based Chica Boom. It retails for $41.

For organic fashion, Shelter stocks Japan-based label Tokyo Hemp Collection. The label’s easygoing hemp styles include a tube dress with embroidery that retails for $207.

Many of Retro Row’s longtime retailers plumb the depths of 1940s and 1950s fashions, but the area is not exclusively retro. East 4th Skate, located at 2120 E. Fourth St., has been in business since 1999 and is devoted to the skate and streetwear fashions of the present.

Footwear by Nike SB as well as all fashions by Irvine,Calif.–based streetwear brand Stuuml;ssy sell well, according to East 4th Skate manager and buyer Vincent Villanueva.

Stuuml;ssy T-shirts retail for $22 at the boutique. Villanueva said both form-fitting T-shirts and boxshaped T-shirts sell well. The store’s consumers’ decision to buy a T-shirt is more influenced by a shirt’s graphic than its shape, Villanueva said. Stuuml;ssy shorts also sell well at East 4th Skate. Their price points range from $40 to $60. Other brands that command attention at East 4th Skate are Santa Ana, Calif.– based Obey, Los Angeles– based DiamondSupply Co. and pioneering skateboarding brand Vans, based in Santa Fe Springs, Calif.

Retro Row is not the only Long Beach street retailers are prospecting for boutique space. In October 2007, Maritza Arrua opened a second location of her boutique, The Kids Are Alright, at 3405 E. Broadway, a few blocks away from East Fourth Street. Arrua opened her first location, in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood, in 2003.

Items doing well at her 500-square-foot Long Beach boutique include the cotton voile “Yasmine” dress by Los Angeles–designer Corey Lynn Calter ($167).

Also popular is the strapless “Tuxedo” dress by Los Angeles–based label Porridge. The pea-green dress with backtrimmed tuxedo ruffles retails for $178.

Another line that sells well is Del Forte Denim, based in Berkeley, Calif. Styles in the line of organic denim retail for $188. The best-selling style has a high-rise waist and wide legs.

The burgeoning boutique neighborhood is also the new home of Kiki Originals, located at 3403 E. Broadway. The bridal, baby and maternity shop debuted on Broadway in November after more than a decade of business in an area of East Fourth Street near Retro Row.

Kiki owner Kim Kessler makes custom bridal gowns. She also sells eveningwear such as the trumpet-shaped, ivory and gold “Brigitte” dress, designed by Spanish label San Patrick. It retails for $1,224.

Kessler also manufactures Kiki Originals maternity tank tops embroidered with humorous slogans such as “It’s a Baby, Not a Belly.” The shirts sell for $30.