Tuesday, March 24, 2009

My daughter, the next Stella McCartney?


CC and I visited Fashionology LA in Beverly Hills this weekend, and, wow, did we step into a tweenage fantasy land.

If you haven't checked out this store, it's a fun place to go to scratch that designer itch. Call it "Project Runway" for girls, without the catty competition or the judgmental glares. It's a place where tweens and teens (actually, we even saw a woman in her 30s there designing a bag) can go to be creative in their own space, on their own time.

Now, yes, I brought my 2-year-old, which was a little ... um ... ambitious. CC is clearly not their target demo (you really need to be able to sit down and focus on creating your T-shirt or skirt), but she had fun nonetheless. And I have to high-five the utterly patient women who were helping us out. Honestly, I'm just happy they didn't ban us for life.

Here's how Fashionology works:
  • First you visit one of their touch-screen computers and pick out what garment you want to design.
  • Then you pick a "mood," such as "Malibu" if you're feeling beachy, or "Rock" if you're feeling a little more hardcore (we're talking Miley Cyrus or "Twilight" hardcore, as opposed to the Metallica variety).
  • Next you add accessories such as charms, necklaces or even "bling," which are little rhinestones that girls can attach at workstations (see top photo) after a "fashionologist" has heat-stamped a logo of your choice onto the garment.
  • Finally, the Fashionology folks have added a little celeb-style into the process. After you're done designing, you can actually model your fashions for the camera and have your image appear on the store's big screen TV. CC decided to sit, rather than show off her vampy poses. That's a 2-year-old for you.
Like I said, this is really a shop for tween girls and up. They suggest ages 8-14. There was even a birthday party going on while we were there, and the tween girls were totally into it. They didn't even seem to notice the toddler weaving between them.

Although CC seemed more entranced by the decor and the childlike mannequins sporting Fashionology duds, she really liked seeing her "Malibu" T-shirt hot off the press and watching as we attached to it a mermaid necklace and a small charm. My friend Kirstin brought her 3-year-old daughter, who seemed to engage the process a little more fully. (Read: She didn't run around the store like a mini Tasmanian devil, like, ahem, mine.)

Luckily, for those not in the L.A. area, Fashionology has opened an online store at Fashionology.com. Take a look. If you're interested in creating a design, enter the code coolmoms25 to receive 25% off your purchase.

Fashionology LA
342 N. Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310-550-7997
www.fashionology.com

3 comments:

Pokie said...

So if I come visit will you take me? We can totally NKOTB it out!!!

April said...

My 11-year-old would go NUTS here. Thanks for the tip!

L.A. Story said...

It's a fun place. I would've totally loved it as a tween. :)

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