The Other Side of Cute

Will fashionistas ever grow bored of cute? Probably not, judging from Los Angeles boutique Aero & Co., which journeyed to the far side of cute at its July 2 trunk show featuring the T-shirts and jewelry of Moss Mills Designs and the art of Roland Miller.

The boutique’s co-owner, Alison Loftin, said she displayed Miller’s paintings on the walls of her shop because they reminded her of cute things. “You think of candy, Dr. Seuss, jelly beans and doughnuts when you look at his work,” she explained.

The other star of the party, Los Angeles designer Moss Mills, fit perfectly with that aesthetic. The vintage-style T-shirts from his Fall 2004 collection feature cuddlesome squirrels and deer. Georgia-born Mills’ art makes even fearsome alligators and gargantuan whales look downright friendly.

Price points ran from $49 for short-sleeved shirts to $59 for long-sleeved shirts in forest green and chocolate brown. Mills used T-shirts from American Apparel LLC and Atlanta-based Alternative Apparel for his 2004 collection but said he was considering making patterns for his own shirts for 2005.

The designer forecast the current T-shirt craze will remain popular.

“People are getting too much of a taste for comfortable things,” Mills said. “It’s too hard to let go of that comfort.” —Andrew Asch