L.A. Streetwear
by Wilson Standish
Rating:
Limited edition sneakers, shirts and fitted hats complete the street wear pyramid, and this is a map to find the best shops.
Limited edition sneakers, shirts and fitted hats complete the street wear pyramid, and this is a map to find the best shops.
What started as a hardware company spin-off of skateboard dynasties Chocolate and Girl, has turned into a highly sought-after limited edition clothing company. No longer are just skateboarders wearing Diamond, now even rappers like The Cool Kids are rocking their tees.
Diamond shirts are difficult to get your hands on–especially if you wear the horribly common large size-so what better way to ensure you’ll get your hands on one than going straight to the store? Some of the featured shirts had a woman’s hand holding a large diamond, another incorporates Mighty Mouse flying with a diamond. All shirts use current color schemes and make shirts in teal – a color your don’t see every day.
The Diamond store is a small elegant boutique, with one rack of shirts on the back wall, a few skateboards stacked, and a mahogany check out station that sits like a giant wooden egg in the middle of the store.
If you’ve been looking for a rare shirt with an urban flare, the Diamond store is perfect. The small selection allows them to rotate regularly, and because it is the official location, not a retailer, they carry editions and colors exclusive to this store.
507 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 966-5970
Family Books Inc is great for anyone wanting to tap into the most cutting edge art. This is reflected not only in what is held on the shelves in this hardcover haven, flexing their keyed-in sense of modern art, but also in their clothing made by local artists, posters and videos. It’s full of everything from Kurt Vonnegut to installation art books, and of course music
The space is a long narrow room, with tall ceiling, covered in different framed art and murals on the walls. All sides of this creative center are lined with bookshelves including a center display, jamming in as much content as possible.
Family is strongly involved with the art communities in L.A., N.Y.C. and Chicago, and this is clear when looking at the store’s blog where there is a constant discussion of the current art trends, and shows. FamilyLosAngelles.com is worth your while especially if you can’t make it in.
Family also sells rare independent “zines”, which are like magazines, but without ads and are independently produced on a very small scale – so they’re here one day but gone tomorrow. One such zine contains interviews with members of Wu-Tang Clan talking about math of all things.
Stopping by Family is always a good idea, because you never know what they will have going on. When we were there last we there last there was even a live band!
436 N Fairfax Ave,
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 782-9221
Fairfax Avenue is the best place to get limited edition sneakers that no one else has, but if you don’t have a hat to match it doesn’t mean much. Hall Of Fame fills the streetwear void of an exclusively fitted hat store, in a culture where a matching hat completes the outfit.
A lot of the stores on Fairfax will have five or so fitteds but Hall Of Fame carries over 60 different styles – a street wear junkies’ dream – at any given time, all crisply on display behind a glass case on the back wall of the two levels.
Hall Of Fame has a few special colored Dodgers’ caps, but most of their lids, are limited editions created by commissioned artists. This new artist trend in baseball caps is taking fitteds far beyond sports, and turning them into canvases.
This is a store for people who would rather wear a piece of art on their head than be a billboard, and Hall of Fame treats the hats accordingly. And it’s a must for anyone looking for a New Era no one else will have.
449 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 655-6002
Hip-hop started with the turntable, transforming disco breaks into beats, and spurring an entire culture: fashion, music, literature, and of course the DJ. Turntable Lab somehow manages to fit all these aspects into one store. And if you didn’t know, Turntable Lab is the most respected in the game, originating in N.Y.C.
Here you can pick up that Technique 1200, or the replacement cartridge for your needle. You will also find the latest streetwear shirts, books and zines, on subjects ranging from international street culture to collecting classic video games. They also stock the latest underground hip-hop and electronic LPs and CDs.
The store is all white with a glass checkout counter, and the DJ equipment section feels like a warehouse, because of it simplistic glass displays and discreet black shelves. This minimalist décor allows the merchandise to be the star.
If you can’t make it to the store, the website is just as good, with products from the L.A. and New York City locations. And like the store, the website lets you listen to all the music before you buy it.
424 1/2 N Fairfax Ave,
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 782-0173