Italian clothing brand Miss Sixty plans to make its retail debut in the Los Angeles area with two stores opening in high-profile locations.

One store is slated for Melrose Avenue at the corner of Crescent Heights Boulevard in Los Angeles, directly across the street from Ron Herman/Fred Segal Melrose, and another store is planned for Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, according to real estate sources.

Scheduled to open this summer, the 4,500-square-foot Melrose unit, located near West Hollywood, will carry the label’s signature denim jeans, clothing, shoes, accessories, intimates and swimwear geared to the 16- to 24-year-old shopper, said Karin Plonaitis, director of retail for Sixty USA, the firm’s American arm.

“The West Hollywood area is where our customer shops and it’s a place to brand our name,” she said.

The 4,500-square-foot store in Santa Monica is scheduled to open by fall 2002.

Plonaitis wouldn’t confirm either location, citing pending lease negotiations. First-year sales should hit $4.5 million for the Los Angeles store and $3.8 million for the Santa Monica store, she said.

Brokers overseeing the two deals declined to comment.

Miss Sixty made its U.S. retail debut in New York last October with a 2,000-square-foot location on Mulberry Street. Plans call for around 10 units to open over the next three years along with a Los Angeles showroom. Parent company Sixty SpA, based in Chieti, Italy, generates more than $300 million in annual revenues from its global wholesale accounts and some 20 retail boutiques in Berlin, London and other European cities.