Style Retail Spotlight: Legion (Los Angeles)

STORE: Legion

CITY: Los Angeles, CA

SINCE: 2006

OWNED BY: Ilan Bitton

PRICES: $$$$ (out of 5)

WHY WE COSIGN: Take a minute and think about your favorite clothing store. Now think about why it’s your favorite place to shop. Not that we’re telepathic or anything, but we’re guessing the shop you envisioned is your favorite not only because of the product they push, but because of the shopping experience they provide. One trip to LA’s Legion and we’re sure you’ll place them on your short list of favorite places to blow your paycheck. Besides carrying some of our favorite brands like Comme Des Garcons, Engineered Garments, Rag and Bone, and A.P.C., Legion, with its expertly designed space, is just a real chill spot to swing through. “I wanted to create an environment that not only provided an exciting shopping experience, but also one that is basically a cool place to hang out,” says owner Ilan Bitton.

Established in 2006, Bitton wanted to create a space that had all the aesthetic elements he looked for when he would go shopping: nice decor, intimacy, great customer service and a selection worth leaving your house for. Despite the stately, old money look and feel of Legion, the boutique is anything but pretentious. Their friendly and knowledgeable sales staff won’t turn a shoulder or look down their nose at you if you don’t know about Woolrich Woolen Mills or Tsovet watches. They’re more than happy to go on and on about the brands they stock, fabrics and fits. Great brands, great atmosphere, great design and great service. What more do you want out of a shop?

Read on for our interview with Ilan Bitton, pics of the store, and the address/web site…

Style Retail Spotlight: Fremont (Los Angeles)

STORE: Fremont

CITY: Los Angeles

SINCE: 2008

FOUNDED BY: Devin Carlson and Britney Pham

PRICES: $$$ (out of 5)

WHY WE COSIGN: It was only a matter of time before L.A.-based Fremont Apparel Co. got popular enough to outgrow the boutiques its clothing was carried in. And finally, last year, owners Devin Carlson and Britney Pham opened up a cool, minimalist (there’s not even a sign outside the store) retail space in downtown L.A. that perfectly falls in line with the Fremont aesthetic. Which is good because the Fremont aesthetic is a great look for the summer.

Why? Fremont specializes in creating garments incorporating lightweight fabrics, whether it’s denim, pima cotton shirts or gingham button-downs. No matter the item, you can be sure you’ll feel as cool as you look while rocking it, ’cause it’s damn near impossible to look fly when you’re sweating like Robin Williams. And although the collection carries a heavy vintage inspiration, the looks are simple enough to be accessible to everyone.

BRANDS CARRIED: Fremont Apparel, which can also be found at Opening Ceremony, Jake, Blackbird Ballard, Barneys New York in July, OAK NYC.

See below for the store’s most popular items, more pictures of the space, as well as a quote from the founder…

Music Pac Div Recaps Their First New York Performance

Last night, New York City welcomed Pac Div to their first performance. The West coast trio of Mibbs, Be Young and Like took center stage, ripping through their fun-filled get-fresh anthems at the Big Apple’s underground nightclub Love. And love is what the guys got from the crowd of fans and special guests that came out in support.

So far, so good since Complex first met Pac Div. They came to New York a few months back with hopes of landing a major label deal, and they did just that, signing with Universal Records and landing co-signs from legends like Q-Tip. Before they hopped on a plane back to L.A. this morning, the group phoned in to give their reaction to their warm welcome, and briefly discuss their forthcoming debut, Grown Kids Syndrome…

Events Raekwon Rocks The Street Kings DVD Release Party

Earlier this month, Wu-Tang’s Raekwon was in Los Angeles for the DVD release party for Street Kings. Sorry, the only update Rae had on his Dr. Dre-produced album Cuban Linx II is that it’s due in February. But he still rocked the crowd at Hollywood’s Element nightclub, where Complex toasted some JC Cognac to celebrate the release of the 20th Century Fox movie starring Forest Whittaker, The Game and Common.

Check out the video below to hear the party’s special guest spinner DJ Muggs talk about scoring Street Kings, as well as Raekwon’s take on the Officer Rick Ross situation…

Video Games Midnight Club: Los Angeles Recreates Cali’s Real Streets

Cats were geeked over how well Rockstar recreated NYC (as Liberty City) in Grand Theft Auto IV, and early word is that Rockstar has done it again with the upcoming Midnight Club: Los Angeles (360, PS3)'this time with a photo-perfect recreation of the land of fake titties, bad fashion, and lame clubs.

The street racer features over 40 customizable vehicles (including motorcycles) and a bunch of different races throughout the freeways and back alleys of the city. And it wouldn’t be a Rockstar title without some po-po to avoid'the LAPD is watching, so get ready for some high-speed chases. Overall, the game is looking pretty tough. It drops on October 7, and we’ve got the spanking new trailer below.

Style Retail Spotlight: Estate Los Angeles

Photos: courtesy of snowboard-mag.com

Alongside the body builders, hobos with lizards, and the occasional tranny on rollerskates that populate Venice Beach, California, a fitted cap boutique known as Estate still manages to stand out. When the American-made, independent company entered the marketplace in October 2006, they had to find a way for their limited-edition caps to compete with fitted giants like New Era. Not an easy task, but their original designs and premium fabrics have made them a sought-after brand on the Left Coast.

As a testament to their burgeoning popularity, Estate opened it’s flagship store in Los Angeles last week. The minimal interior is lined wall-to-wall with their most popular styles like plaid, seersucker, and the store’s signature L.A. branded, all of which start at $40. Check out some more shots of the store below.

Style Retail Spotlight: Commissary

Streetwear’s O.G.’s are often seen, but rarely heard. From stores to parties, they’re everywhere that makes up “the scene.” But few give their brand a voice as loud as streetwear icon Andrew Lee does as the owner of clothing line invisible:man and retail chain Commissary.

Though the Brooklyn native is always opinionated, he prefers to let his bold BMX/skate/heavy metal inspired clothing do the bragging for him. Lee opened his first Tokyo flagship in 2001, and is now based in California with two more stores under his belt'one in San Diego, the other in Orange County (pictured above). In addition to invisible:man, Commissary carries brands like Original Fake, Bounty Hunter, and Acapulco Gold. We caught up with Andrew Lee to talk about his stores and get his take on the the influence of online shopping on today’s retail business. Read the quick interview below.

Art Is The LAPD’s New Mural Racist?

Residents in East Los Angeles’ predominantly Latino neighborhood Boyle Heights are pissed.

A $195,000, 100-foot tiled mural that is scheduled to go up next month at the their new local LAPD station was supposed to depict a quaint Sunday afternoon in the neighborhood. But now the installation seems to be stalled, with members of the community expressing their anger at some of the Mexican-American stereotypes portrayed by the artist, Sandow Birk.

The mural has drawn complaints for depicting the 'hood as a depressing, crime-ridden dump. In the painting, plump, braided women parade around the streets, which are filled with stray dogs, piñatas, beer-drinking men, Mexican flags, men being arrested and illegal street vendors (including one women selling a Shaq jersey). The artist based the mural on iconic Mexican artist Diego Rivera’s “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park” (see the original here). Check out more pictures of the mural after the jump and make your own judgement…

[LA Times]

Style Quality Time

Here at Complex the lines between work and play often become blurry. Even during our 4th of July vacation last week in LA, it was almost impossible to pull us away from our laptops and Blackberries so that we could catch a quick glimpse of hot, exotic World Cup groupies and the Zinedine Zidane head butt heard 'round the world. Instead, our attention was on the sweet eye-candy we found outside of our native NYC in some of the West Coast's finest boutique shops like Proper, Seams, Supreme, Conveyor at Fred Segal, and Turntable Lab. Maybe next time we can fit into our schedule more than one type of “beech,” if you know what we mean.

Fred Segal has two locations, both across the street from each other. But only one houses Conveyor, their dope boutique streetwear line. They also carry Orchard Street, MHI (Maharishi), BBC and Ice Cream.

For us sneakerheads who get wood for Proper’s wide selection of Nike, adidas, and Vans we must say the store’s wood-grain motif is also a nice touch. Pause.

Seams is a cool store in Long Beach next door to Proper. Most of the clientele are skaters so most of the sneaker choices are Nike SB’s core skate shoes like the P-Rod, and Team Edition. Other hot items in the store: Nike SB apparel, Nike White Label, T-shirts from The Hundreds, Shalom x Diamond, and Lrg.

The tiny New York flagship has more room to breathe out in LA. The DJ/producer/sound technician headquarters carries the imports as well as the latest 12″ releases (yes, vinyl still exists), DJ equipment, accessories, T-shirts, hoodies, CD’s, and DVD’s.

Have a seat and taste some of their delicious vinyl.

Seeing a live DJ in a store once wowed us. But we’ve finally seen it all, Supreme LA’s in-door skate bowl – amazing.