State of Independence

Indie designers thrive outside the scope of L.A.’s traditional apparel industry.

There’s a whole other fashion world out there. And it’s not necessarily tied to fashion seasons, trade shows and wholesale showrooms.

Los Angeles is home to a growing number of entrepreneurial, independent designers creating one-of-a-kind designs for edgy, avant-garde boutiques such as Maxfields, Show Pony, Sirens & Sailors, Forget it, Jake and Zentropa.

These designers operate outside the confines of the wholesale garment business—and sometimes quite literally outside the boundaries of the Los Angeles Fashion District in neighborhoods such as the Artists District and Chinatown.

California Apparel News Manufacturing Editor Claudia Figueroa recently tracked down a few of these local designers to find out what inspires their state of independence.

Designer: Paul Magalad Age: 32 Label: San Paredes Background: Magalad is from Australia.He came to the United States three years ago to start an apparel line. “I’ve always believed that you have to be from somewhere else to make it,” he said.Style: Urban couture Technique: Magalad works with jersey, cotton and rayon fabrications. “I’m a deconstructionist who works couture backwards,” he said.The look: A ruffled halter top made with cotton/rayon ($75 wholesale), a plaid ruched full-circle skirt ($95 wholesale) and a black deconstructed jersey dress ($325 wholesale) Retailers: Sirens & Sailors in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles Design inspiration: Japanese designers Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto Motto: Wear as you please.

Designer: Jessica Hooper Age: 31 Label: G. Sabine (named after her daughter) Background: Hooper is a self-taught painter and sculptor.Style: A satirical approach to screenprinted T-shirts Technique: Hooper buys old screenprinted T-shirts, takes them apart and hand-sews blends of fabrications together. “I see it as a cultural collection because there’s so much happening in Los Angeles,” she said. “I look for the humor or ethnic influences in popular culture and combine them in a way that attention is paid to the message—which is to move beyond cultural stigmas.”The look: A men’s long-sleeved deconstructed T-shirt with a “South Park” screen print ($48 wholesale) and a women’s deconstructed halter dress with an asymmetrical hem ($52 wholesale) Retailers: Ver Unica and Mimi Barr, both in San Francisco, and Part One in Santa Monica, Calif.Design inspiration: Vigilante personas and the teen pop movement Motto: Question culture.

Designer: Andrae Gonzalo Age: 30 Label: Andraegonzalo Background: Gonzalo is an alumnus of the fashion design school of the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. He had a brief stint as a drama major at New York University.Style: Young designer/women’s special occasion Technique: Gonzalo works with silk and jersey fabrications and embellishes them with lace trims, beads and glitter. “I’m interested in getting fashion to match with the times so it expresses something that everyone feels but doesn’t know what it looks like,” he said. “It’s my job as a designer to determine the emotion of the period and then turn it into something tactile and visual.”The look: A gauze wrap dress ($400 retail), a seersucker slip dress inspired by “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” ($400 retail) and a gauze cowl-neck top ($98 retail) paired with matching pantaloons featuring vintage hat-veil trim ($150 retail) Retailers: Gonzalo operates Forget it, Jake, a retail store for his apparel in Chinatown.Motto: Express the times.

Designer: Coryn Madley Age: 24 Label: Madley Background: Madley has a bachelor’s degree in textile design from the Rhode Island School of Design. She studied knitwear design at Central Saint Martins in London before moving to Los Angeles two years ago to launch a jewelry and apparel line.Style: Whimsical, fantasy-inspired knitwear and jewelry Technique: Madley uses wovens, hand-dyed yarns and metallic yarns to make collage material for her sweaters. “It’s inspired by ’A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ or something out of a Shakespeare play,” she said.The look: A Louis XIV mutton-sleeve sweater made with paleblue merino wool and gold metallic yarn ($175 wholesale), a quilted stretch skirt with a knit waistband ($150 wholesale), and a bright-green merino-wool pirate sweater with unraveling sleeves and a detachable collar ($150 wholesale)Retailers: Fred Segal Flair and A Mason in Santa Monica, Calif., and select Saks Fifth Avenue stores Design inspiration: Christian Lacroix. “He uses textile collages to create time periods; they have a classic, timeless feeling,” said Madley. “Lacroix is not inspired by trends; he transcends them.”Motto: Individuality is more important than being in the trend.