Shareen Mitchell’s Rags to Riches Tale
Anyone who has set foot in Shareen Vintage, a vast downtown warehouse space lined with endless racks of sparkly cocktail frocks, gauzy, ankle-grazing hippie robes and everything in between, will hardly be surprised to learn that the shop’s owner, Shareen Mitchell, is starring in a new reality show, “Dresscue Me,” premiering Tuesday on Discovery’s Planet... More
Just Don’t Call Them Communes
Today we’ve got reality TV stars and struggling actors in superhero costumes, but in the early ‘70s even stranger, more exotic creatures roamed the boulevards of Hollywood: the 100+ members of The Source Family, a spiritual commune led by a man named Father Yod, that made its home in a mansion in the Hills. Dressed... More
L.A.’s Art Scene Goes Hollywood
In the week leading up to the Oscars, when lavish parties are as common as movie pitches, some of this year’s most coveted invitations are being extended not by film studios but L.A.’s museums and galleries. In fact, one could skip the industry shindigs altogether and still hang with some of Hollywood’s biggest power players.... More
Honoring Photographer Douglas Kirkland
This week, photographer Douglas Kirkland will receive the American Society of Cinematographers’ highest honor, the Presidents Award. In the 25 years that the ASC has been honoring outstanding contributions to the art form at its annual ceremony, it’s the first time the award is being given to a still photographer. “I still haven’t quite recovered... More
Sofia Coppola and Thomas Mars
It comes as little surprise to learn that Sofia Coppola, a filmmaker for whom music often plays a scene-stealing role, enlisted Phoenix, the French rock band fronted by her boyfriend Thomas Mars, to score her new film, “Somewhere.” What is surprising, however, is that the creative collaboration between the couple, who now have two young... More
It Happened One Night
“I think part of the purpose of museums is to serve friction,” said the artist Doug Aitken. “Things that make you wake up, that make you think.” Museum fund-raising galas, however, are better known for serving bland cuisine and excess, so when Jeffrey Deitch, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art’s new director, invited Aitken... More
Closet Visit gives readers a peek inside
For women, one of the fastest ways to get to know a new friend is to look through her closet. Sifting through the layers of silk, sequins, cotton and wool, we can learn about our new acquaintance’s past, her obsessions, her quirks and the things we have in common.Los Angeles artist, photographer and fashion lover... More
Fruit Force
On a breezy Sunday afternoon, families, artists and gardeners roam the grounds at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where a different sort of art has cropped up altogether: A potato field grows between two buildings; ailing strawberries are nourished through an elaborate system of IV bags near the main entrance; and a soil-... More
Los Angeles Dispatch: Will Lemon
Most makeup artists consider the skin their canvas, but William Lemon III takes the idea more literally. Lemon, who is also a musician and painter, created a water-based acrylic body painting technique called skin printing, and he has used it to cover Marc Jacobs’s naked body with hot pink Stephen Sprouse/Louis Vuitton logos, and to... More
L.A. Femme
Vanessa Bruno likes to say that she makes “easy clothes for difficult girls.” But in the Parisian designer’s world, “difficult” doesn’t mean someone who must coordinate her outfit with an alcohol monitoring anklet but a woman with original taste who wants her clothes to reflect her individuality. “For me, it’s about personality,” says Bruno, a... More
“Kids” Sounds All Right
You won’t hear a single Who riff in Lisa Cholodenko’s “The Kids are All Right,” but the rock ‘n’ roll title fits nonetheless. As with Cholodenko’s other features “High Art” and “Laurel Canyon,” this is a story of unconventional characters: a lesbian couple, their two teenage children, and their sperm donor; and their musical tastes... More
Janelle Brown on the Pursuit of the California Dream
There are infinite variations on the California Dream, but most Angelenos would probably agree that fame, fortune, sunny skies, golden statuettes and prime real estate are key ingredients. They’d also likely agree that the dream’s shadow side only makes it that much more alluring. With her second novel, “This Is Where We Live” (Spiegel &... More