STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

From the LA Times

A Sassy Stepping Out

By Booth Moore
Times Staff Writer

September 2, 2006

Fall hasn't even arrived, but the shopping scene is already heating up with a flurry of new openings. Lisa Kline has a pumped-up new men's store on Robertson. On Melrose Avenue, Duncan Quinn is selling his rock 'n' roll suits, while Original Penguin and Paul Frank are slated to open next month, along with House of Petro Zillia, down on 3rd Street. Carolina Herrera is coming to Melrose Place, along with Chloe.

And in Century City, J. Crew has a new, edgier little sister. The preppy retailer is launching a funky casual brand for women called Madewell with its first West Coast store opening Monday at the Westfield Century City shopping center. The clothes have more of a downtown attitude than those from J. Crew, and they're cheaper too, with the average price hovering around $50 and a buttery, navy blue leather bomber jacket in the perfect shrunken shape for just $268. Think skinny jeans, broken-in chinos, utility jackets, T-shirts and twill blazers in interesting washes, and suede boots, all on par with what one might find at Abercrombie & Fitch or American Eagle Outfitters, and all logo-free.

Madewell also features some exciting collaborations with Brazil's Havaianas for flip-flops, France's Spring Court for Converse-like tennis shoes and New York-based Philip Crangi, known for his medieval-meets-Victorian jewelry.

Millard Drexler, the man who made Gap and Old Navy retail giants before joining J. Crew in 2003 as chairman and chief executive, developed the concept. And it began as it often does — with a name.

Madewell was a 1937 work wear company based in New Bedford, Mass. A friend brought the name to Drexler four years ago. "I immediately fell in love," he says. "It evoked a great image. And it's hard to find names for companies. I named Old Navy after a bar on Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris."

Drexler negotiated to buy the name, which he leases to J. Crew for $1 a year.

For a national brand, it's oddly exclusive. L.A. is only the second location after a mid-August premiere in Dallas. Madewell isn't yet available online.

A canvas utility jacket ($96.50) is smartly nipped at the waist with elastic inserts. Chino shorts ($49.50) have a subtle herringbone pattern in the weave and cute rolled-up cuffs, and fall's chic beige herringbone menswear vest doesn't come off as cheap, even at $74.50.

The canvas shopper ($48) is a bit dull, as are the T-shirts. But white jeans have the quality of a premium denim without the price. Even at $78.50, they are substantial enough not to be see-through.

"I love the marketplace in L.A., but prices are high and a bit exclusionary and elitist," Drexler says. He hopes Madewell will appeal to the boutique shopper who also loves a good bargain.

The brand is trend-conscious, he says, but more inspired by "what's interesting about vintage, which is that the older something gets the more desirable it is."

"L.A. is exactly where Madewell belongs," Drexler says, "because the sensibility is the same.... Individuals bring style to clothes."