Tempted's Feminine Side

Last year, Los Angeles–based juniors line Tempted offered a clubwear-inspired collection. This year, teen-age girls are taking more control of their wardrobes, according to Tempted’s Janet Chung and Alan Del Rosario, so the company had to figure out how to harness the energy of this independent streak.

“Girls are putting clothing together on their own,” Del Rosario said. “It’s not matchy-matchy. It’s random.”

The design team’s goal was to create a collection that would embrace juniors’ independence but not get too far ahead of the market. They also wanted to create a line that was feminine. But the question was: What makes clothes feminine?

The answer was found in the 1950s-inspired skirts and 1970s bohemian mix-and-match looks displayed on Oct. 12 at The Space club in Santa Monica, Calif. The company showed 70 pieces from its juniors line and children’s line, Tempted Kids.

The juniors line concentrated on shrunken jackets, prairie skirts, capris, Bermuda shorts, gauchos, lingerie camisoles and miniskirts.

Patterns ranged from bold stripes to floral and Pucci-style prints. Chung said prints were an issue in this collection.

“Prints are very personal,” she noted. “I like Pucci, but not everyone likes it. So we had to cover everything.”

At the event, actress Lisa Foiles of Nickelodeon’s comedy program “All That” announced a donation of Tempted clothes to Hollygrove Children & Family Services, a Hollywood-based nonprofit for neglected and abused children.

The crowd also cheered when Tempted president Steve Schoenholz picked up his electric guitar for a gig with his band, Grey Dog, which features George Bunnell of 1960s rock hit maker The Strawberry Alarm Clock. Bunnell said he and Schoenholz played in a garage band when they were teen-agers. —Andrew Asch