Lo-Fi Gets Extraordinary + Rough Roses
Kelly Cole at Kelly Cole Extraordinarium.
Kelly Cole has been around the block and he is returning to boutique land.
Fashion folks might know Cole for designing a belts line called Lo-Fi and for running a vintage concert T-shirt biz (want that Stones T-shirt from 1978? Talk to Kelly.) He ran it out of a boutique on Los Angeles’ Fairfax Avenue, called strangely enough, Lo-Fi. He shuttered the store in 2007 and continued to sell the belts to specialty shops like American Rag. He also tended to his other gigs of DJing, acting and interior design.
Fast forward to 2011, he jumped back into the boutique biz, opening the Kelly Cole Extraordinarium, at 7934 W. Third St. near the corner of Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. A debut party was held Feb. 17 for the store. Guests included celebs like Danny Masterson who owns high profile boutique Confederacy in Los Angeles.
Lining the Extraordinarium’s walls was the photo and poster exhibition PUNK!, which featured a photo portrait of Sid Vicious gigging with members of the New York Dolls. There also was a poster for a show for Black Flag and Minutemen. Both poster and portrait were to die for. Price points for the boutique's belts, vintage jeans, leather jackets and T-shirts range from $10 to $500. The event was a fundraiser for P.S. Arts, a Los Angeles-based non-profit which raises funds for arts education.
The Extraordinarium took the front half of the space for Denim Revival. The venerable denim tailoring and alteration shop will complement the Extraordinarium’s business.
And why did Cole hang a shingle up again? His wholesale biz was growing, he will be rebranding his line to Kelly Cole Lo-Fi, and he needed a storefront. “I missed seeing people everyday,” he said of the years when he worked out of his house. “I wanted a place where people could see me.” Friendly.
Sounding a bit like the title of a romance novel, Rough Roses, a California-based accessories line debuted in late 2010, and opened an ornate boutique at 11859 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles. It was launched by Wynn Katz, the business founder of the Linea Pelle accessories line. Welcome to the neighborhood! Rough Roses will be holding a sample sale on March 5.
Rough Roses flagship in Los Angeles.
