Work in Progress
Walking into Michael Cohen’s new showroom, Work in Progress, on the 12th floor of The New Mart in Los Angeles is like embarking on an urban retreat.
Facing wall-to-wall windows that scale 10 feet in height, one can gaze at the San Bernardino mountains sitting behind the downtown high-rises. The airy showroom is accentuated by orange chairs, pale-green bamboo paneling wrapped around bar counters and high-end contemporary clothes from eight lines, including Riley (reworked vintage), Scanty (pajamas featuring original art and Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters), Reminiscence (tubular lace-trimmed camisoles and T-shirts) and Pulcini (fashion knits).
“We’ve got our chi working,” Cohen said, referring to the Chinese word for energy and the feng shui reading he had done for the space before he opened in April.
That’s all the better for showing clothes. Cohen also features Johnny Cotton woven shirts, Project E knits, Sanctuary casual pants and Jordache Vintage, which is being relaunched on the jeans company’s 25th anniversary as a premium denim line.
The clothes are sold at Fred Segal, Dallas- based Jean Connection and Allie G in Mill Valley, Calif., among other stores. Wholesale prices start at $16 for T-shirts and go up to $145 for the Jordache jeans.
Cohen studied photography before he opened his first showroom in San Francisco in 1972. He moved to Los Angeles in 1995 and opened Nine O Seven, located on The New Mart’s ninth floor, four years later. At 2,400 square feet, Work in Progress is double the size of Nine O Seven.
“Rather than giving up that showroom on the ninth floor, we decided to expand,” he said. “The focus of both our showrooms is daywear, playwear, not necessarily activewear per se.”
Both rooms will maintain their own identity, Cohen said.
“The feeling down there in Nine O Seven is just a little faster and edgier,” he said. “This one is more comfortable and accessible.” —Khanh T.L. Tran
