Mas Looking to Pioneer Silverlake Fashion Street
On any given day, there are cars speeding past the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Maltman Avenue in Los Angeles’ Silverlake neighborhood. But Shannon Benedetti is betting that motorists will slow down and take notice of this stretch of Silverlake real estate, which could become as hip as Sunset Junction, located just a few minutes’ drive west.
Benedetti opened Mas Boutique in September 2007 at 3511frac12; Sunset Blvd. to offer fashion retail in a neighborhood that is the home to the Foresight Studios, a dance/art complex owned by choreographer Fatima Robinson, and a handful of mom-and-pop businesses.
Less than one year later, design shop Mercado opened a few storefronts away. Acrossthe street, Sabai, a boutique specializing in Thai fashion, also looks to attract the same stylish clientele who shops at Sunset Junction or nearby Hillhurst Avenue.
For Benedetti and her business partners, the mother-and-daughter team of Mia and Judy Harkins, pioneering business on a new street has brought a few surprises. Mas Boutique enjoys a larger clientele of male shoppers than initially expected. Benedetti said she doubled the floor space devoted to men’s fashions at Mas in the past year. By January, it will take up 50 percent of the 700-square-foot boutique.
Men are buying items from Endovanera, the contemporary label based in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood. The label’s boat-neck Henleys retail for $60, and button-down shirts retail for $163.
Women are buying relaxed clothes from the downtown Los Angeles–based Current/Elliott label—in particular, the label’s “Boyfriend” jean, which retails for $229. According to Benedetti, sales are good for the loose-fitting style, which may be an indication that the end is near for the popular skinny jean. —Andrew Asch
