Pop, Lock & Shop It! @ the London

The roof of the swanky London hotel in West Hollywood was the setting for the Pop, Lock & Shop It! sample sale two-day event. I went on the last day of the event, when it wasn’t quite as crowded (which meant a more personable relationship with the vendors.) The event was put on by the two fashionista founders of Forward Fashion- Tuesday Simon and Jackie Chambers. The pair met two years ago while working at a buying office in downtown. They founded Forward Fashion on the belief that when you learn from the mistakes of others, you take the positive and enforce those changes into personal ventures. The company has a website, where they cover fashion-related events.The also offer fashion consulting services. According to Tuesday, “…we are pros at connecting the dots and utilizing the outlets we have available to us and thus are able to help others do the same…As a company, our main goal is to help others succeed and reach their full potentials, while we do the same…[Forward Fashion] believes strongly in philanthropy, this is why in many of the things that we take part in, a portion has always and will always go to charity.”

They created this fun shopping event because they wanted people to shop luxury brands at bargain prices at their leisure, while also enjoying gourmet cupcakes, great music and a stocked bar. That day, I browsed brands like Literature Noir, found gorgeous dresses from ArynK, as well as flirty and feminine clothes by YanaK Los Angeles and beautiful handmade jewelry by Tatiana ( email: onlytatiana@sbcglobal.net).

I wanted to briefly spotlight a few brands that caught my eye. The first brand,Moods of Norway was founded by Simen Staalnacke, Peder Borresen and Stefan Dahlkvist. Their motto: “…make happy clothes for happy people around the world.” Indeed, this brand makes their mark, not just in clothing (their labels say anything from “Made by really,really pretty blonde girls” to Grandma’s Waffle Recipes to the numbers 234,243, which is the number of registered tractors), but for the mascots: blue limos, blue and gold tractors and waffles. Their flagship store is located at 113 S. Robertson Blvd in Beverly Hills. Their website is pretty “super-duper” as well, www.moodsofnorway.com.

Fun screen -printed tees caught my eye. I was also able to speak with one of the designers of Hakka, Mae Suzuki. She and her sister, Nana run the company, which was created in 2008. Hakka is Japanese for peppermint. The sisters have frequent collaborations with K.G. Louie (Chinatown), JANM (Little Tokyo) and Tokyology (www.tokyology.tv). Their designs are inspired by Japanese pop culture with a mix of LA fashion. I loved the tee with the bold red, white and blue pills and tee with the print of the iconic LA Chinatown entrance. The tees are made of Supima cotton, which is soft and silk to the touch. The collaborations pieces are $35 and the Hakka line ranges from $45-60. Hakka is sold online at www.hakkaapparel.com and at numerous boutiques around LA, such as: Barracuda and Munky King on Melrose and Flockshop and Realm in Chinatown.

I found a cute jewelry line, Jayrun, founded in 2007 and owned by another set of sisters, Terme and Jayrun Hayempour. They were showcasing their collection of lovely 14k gold filled chains with a mix of natural stones, pearls, 24k gold-dipped leaves and charms. They find inspiration through an assortment of cultures around the world. This particular collection that was shown that day, named, “Summer Romance 2010.” According to the sisters, “we like to think of this collection as being dreamy, high-end and reminiscent of old Hollywood. All  the names are reminiscent of old Hollywood actresses and who could have a romance collection without ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ matching tassel bracelet and necklace.” The line ranges from $40-250, which is very reasonable to suit anyone’s budget. [I recently received an email from Terme, saying that Paris Hilton picked up FOUR of Jayrun’s necklaces while shopping at Live! On Sunset.] Check out the jewelry at www.jayrun.com.

Proceeds from this event went to the Abolish Slavery Coalition (www.abolishslavery.org). It was truly a fun day and I’m looking forward to more of Forward Fashion’s events. For more info, go to www.forwardfashion.biz!

Special Thanks: All the vendors, The London Hotel, Ashleigh McGrew, Tuesday Simon and Jackie Chambers, Go Girl Energy Drinks, Don Azul and Szambelan Vodka.