Jumpin' Jack
Appointment-only boutique Jack Henry offers “street couture”
If everyone gets 15 minutes of fame, everyone should also get at least 15 minutes with a personal stylist.
Celebrity-level personal attention is a tariff-free frill at Jack Henry, a new appointmentonly boutique in Los Angeles that combines personal service with an eccentric collection of unique items by edgy designers.
Owner Tia Browsh opened the store in March after a variety of stints in the entertainment industry, including one as a personal shopper. Jack Henry is the name of her miniature pinscher, who patrols the boutique with a glistening slab of rawhide clenched between his teeth.
“I want to offer the average person the opportunity to have celebrity service,” said the 27-year-old Browsh.
This is the way Browsh likes to shop—with salespeople who know her size and tastes—and it is also the way she likes to serve. She estimates her client base to be between 150 and 200.
Her inventory consists of “street couture”: one-of-a-kind pieces that are often by small designers pushing edgy ideas. These clothes typically do not have “hanger appeal,” Browsh said, and require the judgment and persuasion of a boutique owner–cum–stylist.
“But once clients try something on, they usually fall in love with it,” she said.
Jack Henry carries such designers as Vivienne Westwood, Heatherette, Grey Ant, Joey and T, Alvin Valley and Shawn. Browsh also stocks standout vintage pieces by Gucci, Pucci and Halston, some of which can fetch $4,500. Most items range from $200 to $1,000.
To ensure her clients get something truly singular, Browsh takes an unconventional approach to buying. She approaches designers and asks to buy their runway, sample, editorial and red-carpet pieces. Browsh said she is always the last person to purchase items at the New York and Los Angeles fashion weeks.
“I want to know what everyone else bought and make sure that I don’t buy it,” she said. “I always want the pieces that are so far to the left they don’t get picked up. And I always get all the runway and editorial pieces anyway because nobody buys them.
“I’m so small and am placing such small orders that I don’t think it’s fair of me to say I have to have an exclusive on a line,” she continued.
However, she’ll often ask for a Los Angeles exclusive on a certain item. “That way I can tell a client, ’No one else will be wearing what you’re wearing’ and know that for sure.”
The only showroom she buys from is EM Productions in Los Angeles’ Cooper Building.
“The market is so homogenized right now, and she’s really out there doing something different,” said EM Productions sales rep Vanessa Impicciatore.
Impicciatore said Browsh’s combination of personal service and unique items “is very different from any other concept, and that’s what makes it really exciting. She has amazing taste and great style.”
Browsh buys select items from the New York–based line Circle by Mara Hoffman and Los Angeles’ Pegah Anvarian.
“Her orders are small but not tiny,” Impicciatore said. “She’s able to move quite a substantial amount of merchandise, actually.”
Stylist Rita Rago with Rouge Artists admires not only Browsh’s taste but also her central location and liberal lending policies.
“She has really good accessories and pieces that are unique, and there are only a few stores in L.A. that carry that kind of stuff,” Rago said.
Being a crusader for the inconnu is also one of Browsh’s passions.
“I love the idea that I can go out and find a line that no one’s ever heard of and display it next to Vivienne Westwood and immediately give it credibility,” she said.
Browsh was able to sweet-talk reps for Westwood into shirking their minimum-order requirements because they admired her vision—and were presumably happy to have someone pick up some of the designer’s more obscure pieces.
Word travels fast, and Browsh said Christian Lacroix recently asked her to take on the designer’s one-of-a-kind showpieces. She is also in talks with the house of Genny to purchase ’70s-era Gianni Versace–designed pieces from its archive. Browsh said she was surprised they were for sale.
“Genny said, ’Nobody’s ever asked before,’” she recalled.
Because of the capital required for a European excursion to buy costly couture pieces, Browsh has put such plans on hold.
“Because the store’s so new, I want to wait until I have a little more of a clientele before I take on such investment pieces,” she said.
Jack Henry is located at 141 S. Kings Rd. in Los Angeles. For an appointment, call (323) 655-6050. —Christian M. Chensvold
