Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Electra Lang Makes Sensible & Chic for Hancock Park and Beyond!

Electra Lang in her living room in Country Club Park

Those of us who live in the Hancock Park area have a certain look. You can see it on Larchmont, at the Grove and while munching pizza at Mozza! It’s not the super high-end dressy casual you see strolling down Rodeo in Beverly Hills or the hippie-chic, big sunglasses ethic of Malibu. Ten years ago, most women were wearing the ubiquitous sweatsuit for any occasion that it would possibly work for, but I think everyone tired of that look.

Electra Lang’s Julian caftan in the Positano print

When Electra Lang, Kristi Buckley and I sat down to discuss who we are, who our friends are, and how we like to dress, we realized how multi-faceted our clothes needed to be. Most of us either go to work, volunteer at school, club or church, meet friends for lunch, and then possibly grab the kids for dinner at Village Pizza. For those of us who have seen our kids go from pre-school to high-school, we were looking for clothes that were fun and felt youthful but are made for a grown-up woman, not a 20-something. We couldn’t find those clothes anywhere—that weren’t at the highest price point, so we decided to carve out that niche for ourselves and every other woman frustrated with the focus on “junior” clothing.

Electra Lang, who lived on Irving Boulevard for many years, now resides with her family of six at the famed Milbank Mansion at Country Club and Arlington Blvd. (lovingly restored), comes from a long line of fashionistas. Growing up on the Upper Eastside of Manhattan, Electra was privy to the most fashion conscious women in the country. Even her grandmother had custom-made clothes from Givenchy. Her first job out of college was at Fiorucci!! Electra has a great love of fashion, but she laughs, “It’s tempered by my kids and very enthusiastic dogs!” What Electra wanted to create are clothes that are casual, but chic, comfortable, but not tents. Electra also has an eye for prints, perhaps a result of her Art History degree from Stanford. “Whenever I am looking at fabrics, if I see something that hints at a William Morris design, I’m instantly attracted to it. I like the idea of incorporating art into clothing.”

The blue-blood bohemian Spencer tunic in Snake. It might just be the perfect tunic!

Kristi Buckley, who resides in Manhattan Beach with her twin boys brings the beach sensibility to the brand. “It’s all about casual chic in Manhattan Beach. Everyone loves to wear tunics, but the biggest complaint I got was that most of them are practically see-through. I wanted a tunic I could throw on over nothing and still be able to grab a coffee without feeling self-conscious. So we did the same thing with our caftan—another popular item at the beach. You could have nothing on underneath, and no one would know.” Kristi has found that most people dress for comfort and that at the beach, most women stay in pretty good shape, but even then, they don’t want clothes that force them into major architecture underneath. “We’ve cut everything to be flattering in such a way to keep fabric slightly away from the body, but not so that you look like you threw on a tablecloth! We really strive for that happy medium of a tailored look that appears casually chic too!”

Patricia Heaton in our silky Owen dress in ZigZag

I have lived in LaFayette Square for 20 years, and was motivated by a different reason. I hate my arms and I wanted to make clothes that covered me up, but wouldn’t make me look and feel 20 years older. I’ve a life-long love of fashion and started drawing clothes as a child. Frankly, I would be happy to wear a fantastic gown while shopping at Ralph’s, but I realize that just wouldn’t work. I think bringing the groceries in is what kills that idea. My background studying Art and Design at Cal-Poly, SLO, and working as an Art-Director, Stylist and even as a painter influences what I like. I am thrilled to spend my time envisioning clothes that my friends and I would wear—and how to make them work for our lifestyles. A few years ago, every single thing was in jersey. I too, like the feel of jersey, but I felt it was too revealing—I have way too many lumps and bumps, but I’m somewhat unwilling to give up bread and the Arianna pizza at Osteria Mamma! The way we solved that problem was to go a bit high-end. We bought luxurious silk jersey and stretch silk charmeuse (in amazing prints)—and lined it! That made all the difference. Our Owen feels like a silky T-shirt, looks like a million bucks AND covers the lumps!

“We decided to make all of our clothes here in Los Angeles, and in the process, we’ve developed wonderful relationships with our sewing contractors, our fabric suppliers, our pattern-makers, and our cutters and graders. The energy and excitement in the fashion industry downtown is palpable! Because one of our contractor’s sews for ALC and Rozae Nichols, we get to see what is going into the stores like Barney’s and Neiman’s before they hit,” says Electra.

The beloved Pickett Fences on Larchmont.

Kristi adds, “The most exciting thing that’s happened this year is our inclusion at Pickett Fences on Larchmont! We all love that store, whether we are buying clothes, gifts or shoes.” In addition to selling at Pickett Fences (that’s where I buy “cool” shirts for my husband!!) our Owen dress was featured in Glamour magazine, which was exciting to see.

Maureen McCormick and Electra Lang in Hollywood!

This business is full of surprises. We received multiple orders over the phone from a very sweet and witty woman who turned out be Maureen McCormick who played “Marcia Brady”! She was so lovely on the phone, we invited over to our office to shop our spring line—she bought one or two of almost everything!–and have lunch. We exchanged stories and laughed for a good two hours! “My sister didn’t believe me when I said I was having lunch with ‘Marcia Brady’-–we both adored her when we were kids–so I had Laura take a photo to prove it to her!”

Electra Lang sells mainly from their website at http://www.electralang.com and at Pickett Fences. “We are dipping our toes in the water, now that we have our website down. Pickett Fences was the first store we wanted to be in. We want to be able to get feedback from all of out customers, because we want our clothes to become your go-to items in your closet! Next stop: Pasadena and Manhattan Beach.”

 

About the Author – Laura Collins is a partner in Electra Lang and brings her marketing expertise to the party. She’s an avid shopper, a compulsive (SHE WANTS TO SAY EATER), consumer of LA History. She has  just joined a Silent Movie Club so she can see what Los Angeles was like in the 20s’. She has three teenagers that have attended various schools around LA and a very patient husband. You might know Laura from her involvement at NGA, St. Brendan’s, or Starbucks at 6:50 am. Laura just got back from a trip to Puerto Rico where she hung out with Governor Luis Fortuno, her favorite columnist at the Wall Street Journal, Mary O’Grady, and played volleyball against John Stossel. He won.

 

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  1. I just saw the line today at Picket Fences! It’s great — a bit of Trina Turk and a dab of Tory Burch. Thanks to Picket Fences for bringing the line to our neighborhood. I can always count on Joane Henneberger to help keep me current with the latest trends.

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