LONG GOODBYE: Bryan Sanderson, right, at the beginning of a two-month-long closing sale for Weltenbuerger.

LONG GOODBYE: Bryan Sanderson, right, at the beginning of a two-month-long closing sale for Weltenbuerger.

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L.A. Avant Garde Outpost Weltenbuerger Closing

The name may have sounded unintelligible to many Los Angelenos, but Weltenbuerger strived to represent elegant, avant-garde fashion in Los Angeles, famously a jeans, T-shirt and casual-fashion town.

Weltenbuerger, which translates from German as “world citizen,” will close, said Bryan Sanderson, its owner. He recently sent an email blast with news that after an eight-year run, the official last day for the avant-garde outpost is scheduled for July 31. The shop spent five years at 1764 N. Vermont Ave. in Los Angeles’ Los Feliz section.

Sanderson said he is shuttering the avant-garde boutique because he wanted to concentrate on his upcoming studies in computer science and musical composition. “I’ve done as much as I wanted to,” he said. “I wanted to make a great environment to be creative. I made all of these experiences. I am satisfied.”

Friends and customers dropping by for the long goodbye of the two-month-long closing sale said they will miss the store. They will also miss Sanderson’s often erudite discussions of designers and the materials used to make their creations. Noah Olmsted, a Weltenbuerger customer, stopped at the sale on June 6. “It’s sad,” Olmsted said of the upcoming closing. “He brought in avant-garde designers you don’t usually see in Los Angeles.”

Sanderson moved to Los Angeles from his native Stuttgart, Germany, to sell the clothes that he was comfortable in. His first Los Angeles clients were nightclub kids. They gravitated to emerging designers that Sanderson brought in from around the globe, but he kept a focus on designers from German-speaking countries, such as Hui Hui, Marc Stone and Velt from Europe. Also sold were U.S. designers such as Stella Proseyn, Kuu Collection and New Friends. He also designed his own line, W/// by Weltenbuerger, to offer a lower-priced alternative to the unique looks that he imported.

While he is closing the shop, he doesn’t mean to entirely quit fashion. Sanderson is considering producing semiannual fashion parties where DJs and bands would play music and designers would sell their wares.