style & BEAUTY the
style & BEAUTY the trendsetters WOMEN’S FasHIon Monique LHuillIer “I always wanted to dress a woman from head to toe,” says Lhuillier, who wears her own lace cocktail dress and rosegold shoes at the West Hollywood boutique People want to shine when it’s their moment,” Monique Lhuillier says in her sleek store on Melrose. Having carved out a business dressing women for formal occasions – whether a wedding or, this being Tinseltown, the red carpet – she should know. The petite designer (don’t be fooled, she packs a punch) produces more than four collections a year: ready-to-wear, bridal, exclusive tabletop, stationery and jewellery collaborations; a home fragrance; and, new this season, shoes. The footwear is made in Italy, but everything else Lhuillier dreams up is made right in downtown LA. She oversees 175 artisans, ensuring ultimate quality control and also allowing her to stay true to the city she loves. “I feel there’s more of a balance in my life being here,” she says, “and maybe that’s why I can do so much without burning out.” For other locations, go to moniquelhuillier.com 48 CENTURION-Magazine.COM
“A sense of discovery is a part of luxury,” says Chait, who wears his own coarse thermal sweater cashmere grEG chait Greg Chait is a cashmere connoisseur. “It was like pick ing up an instrument,” he says, describing a simple brown cashmere blanket he re ceived as a gift, which in turn inspired his company, The Elder Statesman. “I inherently understood this material, the yarn.” So began his search for the world’s finest yarn – in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Mongolia, Scotland and Italy – which is often hand-spun and boiled in a process “very close to cooking,” Chait says. He then entrusts LA-based knitters to execute his sump tuous designs for men, wo men and the home. Recently his quiet diligence made some noise, when he won the 2012 CFDA/ Vogue Fashion Fund. But integrity matters more to Chait than accolades, which is a philosophy he’s proud to have built into the name on his label. “It’s an idea about the way to do things – it’s somebody who holds a high rank because of merit,” he says. “It has status because it has done something to deserve it.” Available at Maxfield, 8825 Melrose Ave. For more details, go to elder-statesman.com After more than a decade pound ing the red carpet as celebrity stylists, sisters Maryam and Marjan Malakpour designed their own slipper-ballet flat hybrid, creating the perfect slipon. The goal was comfort without compromising style. Even the label, NewbarK, is a play on the old expression “my dogs are barking” (my feet hurt). The duo, who produce everything in LA, have branched out into boots, bags and a men’s collection. At Just One Eye, 7000 Romaine St. For other stores, go to newbark.com shoes newbark CENTURION-Magazine.COM 49
