Los Angeles is famous for a slower-paced lifestyle compared to its East Coast counterpart, New York, but in tune with its laid-back ethos, LA has slowly been upping its fashion currency. Brands based there take their influence from the strong vintage clothing community, sports, celebrities and nature. LA’s good weather, coupled with an almost inexhaustible number of locations, makes it a magnet for fashion editors across the globe keen to get the perfect shoot in that golden LA light. Here, we take a look at three of the designers and brands that have set up shop in LA and see how their surroundings have shaped them.
Denim is the name of the game when it comes to Citizens of Humanity. Founder and Paris-born Jerome Dahan landed in Los Angeles via Montreal (where he designed his first pair of jeans in the mid 1970s). In Los Angeles, he helped establish the city as the world capital for designing and manufacturing blue jeans. Since then, the brand has gone global, distributed in more than 35 countries around the world. As well as global denim domination, they’ve cultivated a space online where they have editorial, style guides and features of the humanitarian kind, making their brand a multi-faceted and immersive experience.