Connected: Braving the Heat for Fashion and Music

The crowd that turned out for the Connected Fashion Festival on Sept. 15 in downtown Los Angeles was a dedicated one—braving temperatures that soared past 100 for deals on fashion brands such as Skingraft, UNIF, Kill City, Generic Surplus, Lightning Bolt, Rojas, Obey and Dimepiece

In addition to fashion, Connected had a lineup of music—including Amy Pham, Wildcat!Wildcat!, Natural Child, White Arrows, Blackfeet Braves—as well as DJ sets by Hit City and Guns in the Sun, plus food trucks and drinks. 

The event was founded last year by a team from the fashion and music events industries, including Shanacie Tangradi, formerly with Class trade show, her husband, Jefferson Tangradi and his business partner Alex Weidner, founders of The Well, a production company that organizes underground parties and music events.  A third partner is MFG, producers of the Mad Decent Block Party

Shanacie Tangradi said the key to Connected’s success is the carefully selected mix of merchandise. 

“It’s super-curated,” she said. “We hand pick all the lines.” 

With the still-struggling economy, brands are landing smaller orders and have merchandise on hand, Tangradi said. “Brands are just sitting on this stuff. It’s a good outlet, and it’s good marketing. People are careful where they spend their money and what they spend it on. They get a lot of bang for their buck [here].”

Designer Freddy Rojas is no stranger to indie fashion sales. He participates in UniqueL.A. and Downtown L.A. Art Walk. He was pleased with the fashion lineup at Connected—“they’ve got all the hip boy brands and all the hip girl brands”—and the chance to talk to consumers. “It gets me to connect with my customers,” he said.

And those who turned out to shop at Connected were clearly fashion fans—sifting through boxes of printed tees and racks of sample and overstock merchandise. 

The UNIF booth was so crowded, organizers asked shoppers to line up to wait to enter. 

“UNIF has blown up in the last two years,” Tangradi said. “They’ve got an insane following.”

Jefferson Tangradi and Weidner will open a retail store and salon—also called The Well—on Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles this fall. The Connected Fashion Festival will continue to be held twice a year. 

“We want downtown to succeed,” Shanacie Tangradi said. “We’re doing our part to make it happen.”—A.A.N.