VISVIM: I like it but I have questions

VISVIM

304 S. Broadway, Los Angeles

Visvim was founded by Hiroki Nakamura, a former designer for Burton.

The brand has several locations in Japan and is primarily carried by other stockists in the States.

They produce design forward clothing mixing together traditional Japanese, streetstyle, and Americana aesthetics.

It is artist designed, craftsman made, expensive, and cool.

But…

I asked the person working there if she knew anything about the lining of this Kiyari Jacket.

She replied that it is an original work by the designer.

I asked if she knew anything about the events depicted in the art and she replied that she believes it is historically inspired but wasn’t sure.

Now I’m a little uncomfortable.

The most common source of this sort of art were Native American prisoners of war in the 1870s. With access to paper, via things like ledger books, and time, many of these captives recorded historical events, battles and individual exploits. The drawings were perhaps a little more storytelling than artwork, which adds an extra level to my disappointment that the salesperson didn’t know the story.

It made me wonder if the designer knows the stories.

Appropriation isn’t really a difficult thing to suss out in a strictly American context, with our well established exploitative power dynamics and history, but it becomes a bit more complex when the person doing a “thing” that isn’t their own, isn’t American and doesn’t carry the same baggage.

So I have questions more than I have conclusions or statements.

Sid Mashburn

1198 Howell Mill Rd. NW, Atlanta

Sid Mashburn the brand started as Sid Mashburn the shop, in Atlanta.

While that may be true of the brand name as a business, perhaps it helps one understand the sort of look Sid Mashburn creates if the CV of Sid Mashburn the man is explained.

Mashburn has been a designer for J. Crew, then a designer for Polo, then Tommy Hilfiger, and then on to Land’s End. He has been at, which I would say then makes him, the “who’s who” of preppy or trad menswear.

My experience in person is that those who work the shop in Atlanta are welcoming and inviting to both visitors and customers. I was just a visitor but would love to be the other.

American Rag Cie

150 S. La Brea Ave.

American Rag has been called the greatest denim store on Earth. I can’t make that call, but I can say it is cool.

Seriously cool.

Denim aside, the place has a fantastic mix of all sorts of other things. There are rows and racks of second hand items, new lines of outerwear, pretty much anything that isn’t formal.

Anywhere West Coast that carries Brooklyn Circus, might in fact be the best.

For people like me, who have a budget, or perhaps just appreciate the “one-offs”, there is a second location just down the street that is much more curated thrift store than high end vintage.

And it is still cool.

The Stronghold

1625 Abbot Kinney Blvd, LA

The Stronghold has been making jeans in LA for more than 100 years. It is what they do.

But they sell more than that.

In keeping with California’s rugged western, not quite cowboy, theme, The Stronghold also sells Stetsons, leather jackets, and… sweatshirts.

Yony

118 S. La Brea Ave. LA

TheYony retail space is minimalist.

White walls and floor allow the articles of clothing on the rack, and maybe a painting or two, to stand out.

It’s a risky play since it is so easy to come of as the final day of a closeout sale and if all you have to focus on is the clothes, they better be good.

The clothes are a riff on classic country club athleisure and a touch of 1950 Americana.

The first time I visited I convinced them to sell me one of the stickball sticks they had in the corner. I was amused that next to a stack of white sweatshirts with crossed tennis racket logos, were the tools of back alley athletics.

And that is what they do there. Country Club attire with back alley sensibility.

Trading Post by Dr. Collectors

Trading Post

126 S. La Brea Ave, LA

I would describe what Dr. Collectors do as a French person’s version of romanticized American Western wear via Japanese design.

I am not qualified to unpack all of that. Those concepts are both problematic and fascinating. Like a well executed television show that is consistently cringy yet you still kinda love it. Like The Office. You just can’t pause to think about it.

No matter my opinions I can solidly say they produce unique items with attention to detail. A lot of it, I must admit, looks super cool, and to be fair, I have had zero contact with the owners or designers and don’t have a true sense of what they are all about. And to continue in fairness, I am no expert on Native American design and the boundaries of certain designs, or items, with their associated meanings, and I know even less about Japan.

But I do know a thing or two about colonialism, appropriation, and how clothing communicates meaning, including, but not limited to, identity.

All of which adds up to me having a lot of questions, no recommendations, and a general hesitance from actual opinion.

Dries Van Noten

451 N. La Cienega Blvd. LA

Dries Van Noten’s LA location is the global brand’s largest and every inch of it is interesting.

The building itself was once Charlie Chaplin’s dance studio but the current contents are neither colorless nor silent.

Past collections are on display creating a museum like quality which flows into art gallery on through to retailer.

When I came to only gawk, not buy, the people there were not just gracious but truly helpful. Like docents with style.

Fred Segal

8500 Sunset Blvd. LA

Fred Segal opened in 1961 and claims to have pioneered the shops inside-of-shops that are now the norm for modern department stores.

Some give Segal credit for creating the brand of “cool” that the world imagens when they hear the word “California”.

I don’t know if that is true, or care if it is, but I do know that Cher in Clueless shopped there.

They carry all the brands and items that are on trend, or are the trend, or whatever. It felt a little to me like visiting the inside of a phone as it scrolls through Tik Tok, Snapchat, or whatever app the glossy kids use these days.

Bode

Bode Los Angeles

7007 Melrose Ave, LA

Bode is the brand, or designer, that made turning vintage quilts into current clothing, a thing.

They are based in New York, but the newly opened second location in LA stands up on its own just fine.

Sewing old fabric into new shapes alone isn’t that remarkable but the creative attention to detail is.

A visit to Bode is as interesting as a museum or gallery, but you can touch and try things on.

It is tactile and aesthetic.

Snake Oil Provisions

5711 N Figueroa St. LA

The first thing I saw when I walked through the door was a pair of pink jeans. They stood out in an otherwise indigo and brown space while somehow retaining their masculinity.

The space is masculine in a way I appreciated, meaning, this is a shop that caters to the masculine and there was a woman working there who did not appear to be attempting to sell her sexuality.

The walls are covered by Indian Giver prints, the racks are filled with leather and denim, and the woman is there as an expert

not as an object.

I love that.