California Apparel News

Hard 8 du jour

Victor Mizrahi and Hugh Todd

"Lucky" Luke and trademark lawyer Jesse Prather

Los Angeles T-shirt label Hard 8 has some pretty cool digs in downtown Los Angeles, not far from the Staples Center. Owner Victor Mizrahi, cohort "Lucky" Luke and staff turned part of the company's warehouse into an eclectically decorated lounge with fresco-style ceilings featuring an evening sky theme set in a clubbish atmosphere. The lounge was the site of the first community mixer on the night of Aug. 6, where fashion-industry people mixed with downtownsters, artists and even a few suit-and-tie types. The lounge is also open Saturday afternoons to the public.

Mizrahi launched the events to mesh with downtown's growing community of residents who live in nearby lofts as well as neighboring businesses and the many apparel-industry suppliers, retailers and friends he meets as owner of Hard 8, which is also made in Los Angeles.

The company's DJ-friendly shirts served as an appropriate backdrop for the Aug. 6 event. Techno-specialist DJ Gourachandra was under pressure, having to spin discs for many of his contemporaries in attendance. Others in attendance included Rasmus Lee and Henrik Gram of the nearby Hygge Bakery featuring authentic Danish baked goods; Annie Chun of One Ten South and Kat Melgaard of JS Apparel and the crew from Flip the Script along with Greg Stangl of nearby Salon Eleven, which on Aug. 13 will have its own downtown party at the Evo building.

Annie Chun with Kat Melgaard

Rasmus Lee and Henrik Gram of Hygge

Ken Kawabe, Chris Barrow and Mia Hayashi