L.A. Chic

Markus Reisenleitner, Susan Ingram

Description

Los Angeles is undergoing a makeover. Leaving behind its image as all freeways and suburbs, sunshine and noir, it is reinventing itself for the twenty-first century as a walkable, pedestrian friendly, ecologically healthy and global urban hotspot of fashion and style,  while driving initiatives to rejuvenate its downtown core, public spaces and ethnic neighborhoods. By providing a locational history of Los Angeles fashion and style mythologies through the lens of institutions such as manufacturing, museums and designers and readings of contemporary film, literature and new media, L.A. Chic provides an in-depth analysis of the social changes, urban processes, desires and politics that inform how the good life is being re-imagined in Los Angeles.

 

Throughout the book, Susan Ingram and Markus Reisenleitner dig up submerged and marginalized elements of the city’s cultural history but also tap into the global circuits of urban affect that are being mobilized for promoting L.A. as an example for the global, multi-ethnic city of the future. Engagingly written, highly visual and featuring numerous photographs throughout, L.A. Chic will appeal to any culturally inclined reader with an interest in Los Angeles, its cultural history and modern urban style.

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: L.A. Chic: Between Rags and Riches

Urban chic: The becoming of the new Los Angeles

Chapter 1: Freeway vs Downtown

From suburban noir to downtown chic

From the suburbs to loft living, or: Neo-noir in gentrification-land: Veronica Mars – The Movie

Naomi Hirahara: Murder on Bamboo Lane and Grave on Grand Avenue

The subversive need for speed: Fast family, smart L.A. and muscle/cars in Furious 7

A gentler, softer, hipper Los Angeles for the twenty-first century?

Chapter 2: Santée Alley vs Santa Fe: Latinidad between Ramonaland and Latino Grit

Fuego: The new L.A. street style in Santée Alley

The Ramona mythology

Los Angeles and Santa Fe: A tale of two nostalgias

Fashioning latinidad

Chapter 3: L.A.’s Surf Chic: From Drop-Out Culture to Silicon Beach

Beaches, L.A. style

L.A. beaches become chic

Surfer culture

The original beachboys

Let’s go surfing now: Californian lifestyle in the 1950s

Surf globally, resist locally

Silicon surfers

Reading the beaches

Chapter 4: Bling and the Realities of Compton and Calabasas

The Bling Ring

Surfaces and seriality

Faciality

Umwelt – Calabasas

The ins and outs of Compton

Coda: GTA: City without angels

Chapter 5: L.A. Fashion in Museums

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM)

Other fashion-related exhibitions in L.A.

Chapter 6: Los Angelization ą la Tom Ford: From American Gigolo to American Apparel

“Doing a Gucci”

Armani goes to Hollywood

“Doing a Dov”

Conclusion: Learning from Los Angeles, the Josephine Baker of Cities

Works Cited

Filmography

Sujets

• Arts visuels
• Arts visuels
• ART
• Style
• Mode (habillement)
• Downtown
• Conseil en image personnelle
• Mythologies
• General
• Central
• New Media
• Fashion
• History of the Americas
• Mythology
• Politics
• Museum
• South
• General officer
• Multiethnic society
• Cultural history
• Makeover
• Rejuvenation
• Environmentally friendly
• Distrito financiero
• HISTORY
• Museums

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 15 septembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783209354
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 19 Mo

Extrait

First published in the UK in 2018 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2018 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2018 Intellect Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Series: Urban Chic
Series ISSN: 2053-7077 (Print), 2053-7085 (Online)
Copy-editor: MPS Technologies
Cover designer: Alex Szumlas
Production manager: Tim Mitchell
Typesetting: Contentra Technologies
Print ISBN: 978-1-78320-934-7
ePDF ISBN: 978-1-78320-936-1
ePUB ISBN: 978-1-78320-935-4
Printed and bound by Hobbs, UK
Dedicated to Erika Rummel and to the memory of Erwin Rummel, dear friends from whom we have learned so very much about both Los Angeles and chic.
Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: L.A. Chic: Between Rags and Riches
Urban chic: The becoming of the new Los Angeles
Chapter 1: Freeway vs Downtown
From suburban noir to downtown chic
From the suburbs to loft living, or: Neo-noir in gentrification-land: Veronica Mars – The Movie
Naomi Hirahara: Murder on Bamboo Lane and Grave on Grand Avenue
The subversive need for speed: Fast family, smart L.A. and muscle/cars in Furious 7
A gentler, softer, hipper Los Angeles for the twenty-first century?
Chapter 2: Santée Alley vs Santa Fe: Latinidad between Ramonaland and Latino Grit
Fuego: The new L.A. street style in Santée Alley
The Ramona mythology
Los Angeles and Santa Fe: A tale of two nostalgias
Fashioning latinidad
Chapter 3: L.A.’s Surf Chic: From Drop-Out Culture to Silicon Beach
Beaches, L.A. style
L.A. beaches become chic
Surfer culture
The original beachboys
Let’s go surfing now: Californian lifestyle in the 1950s
Surf globally, resist locally
Silicon surfers
Reading the beaches
Chapter 4: Bling and the Realities of Compton and Calabasas
The Bling Ring
Surfaces and seriality
Faciality
Umwelt – Calabasas
The ins and outs of Compton
Coda: GTA: City without angels
Chapter 5: L.A. Fashion in Museums
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM)
Other fashion-related exhibitions in L.A.
Chapter 6: Los Angelization à la Tom Ford: From American Gigolo to American Apparel
“Doing a Gucci”
Armani goes to Hollywood
“Doing a Dov”
Conclusion: Learning from Los Angeles, the Josephine Baker of Cities
Works Cited
Filmography
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Figure 0.1: Griffith Observatory in La La Land (Images © 2016 Black Label Media et al.).
Figure 0.2: Hermosa Beach Pier with lanterns, La La Land (Images © 2016 Black Label Media et al.).
Figure 0.3: Hermosa Beach Pier (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 0.4: Poster for Slimane’s final Saint Laurent show at the Palladium (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 0.5: American Gigolo (Images © 1980 Paramount Pictures).
Figure 0.6: “Rags to Riches” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 0.7: Wall mural on the Angel City Brewery in the Arts District (photo: S. Ingram).
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1: Pop-up store in DTLA (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.2: Pavement ornament in the Fashion District (photo: K. Sark).
Figure 1.3: A new way of getting to know Los Angeles (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.4: Streetcar in The Grove shopping centre (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.5: Spatial apartheid I: The Bonaventure (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.6: Spatial apartheid II: Bunker Hill (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 1.7: Los Angeles City Hall (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 1.8: Miracle Mile between circa 1930 and circa 1945 (Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 1.9: Bench near Disney Concert Hall (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 1.10: Brick Lofts, Arts District (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 1.11: L.A. River (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.12: Veronica Mars – The Movie: Arts District (Images © 2014 Warner Bros. Digital Distribution).
Figure 1.13: Neptune Marina in Marina del Rey (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.14: Arts District (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.15: Veronica Mars – The Movie: lines of sight (Images © 2014 Warner Bros. Digital Distribution).
Figure 1.16: Disney Concert Hall (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 1.17: Movie theatre in DTLA (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.18: dtla vets (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.19: Fast and Furious 6 (Images © 2013 Universal Pictures).
Figure 1.20: Fast and Furious 6 (Images © 2013 Universal Pictures).
Figure 1.21: Toretto home in Echo Park (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.22: Promotion of the Fast & Furious Ride at LAX (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 1.23: Gentrification by organic coffee and barbed wire in DTLA (photo: S. Ingram).
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1: Fuego (Images © 2013 Nowness ).
Figure 2.2: A piñata shop on East Olympic Boulevard (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 2.3: The L.A. fashion district welcomes you to Santée Alley (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 2.4: Taco truck next to the Ace Hotel (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 2.5: Shopping in Santée Alley (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 2.6: Calle Olvera (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 2.7: Rodeo Drive (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 2.8: The Grove (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 2.9: Fashion District (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 2.10: La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 2.11: Whole Foods supermarket, Santa Fe (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 2.12: One Santa Fe (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 2.13: Trailer for Los Angeles’s bid for the Olympics.
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1: Venice backstreets (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 3.2: Working out at Muscle Beach (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 3.3: Annette Kellerman (Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 3.4: Gertrude Ederle (Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 3.5: Bikini mural at Hermosa Beach (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 3.6: Marilyn Monroe postcard (Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 3.7: Esther Williams, 17, posing in a swim suit during training in Los Angeles, California in 1939 ( Los Angeles Times photographic archive).
Figure 3.8: George Freeth memorialized in the International Surfing Museum, Huntington Beach (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 3.9: Gidget (Images © 1959 Columbia Pictures Corporation).
Figure 3.10: The Gidget beach boys (Images © 1959 Columbia Pictures Corporation).
Figure 3.11: Quiksilver boardshorts on display in the International Surfing Museum, Huntington Beach (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 3.12: Surfing as atmosphere in a bar on the Stubenring in Vienna (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 3.13: Quiksilver store, Huntington Beach (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 3.14: Patagonia headquarters and flagship store, Ventura (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 3.15: Ace Hotel lobby (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 3.16: Gehry’s Binoculars Building (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 3.17: Board meeting sculpture in the entry of the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 3.18: Bench on Abbot Kinney Boulevard (photo: S. Ingram).
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1: Welcome to Compton (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 4.2: Welcome to Calabasas (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 4.3: Surrounded by images in The Bling Ring (Images © 2013 American Zoetrope and NALA Films).
Figure 4.4: An Adventure in Excess poster (https://officialnickimooreforever.tumblr.com).
Figure 4.5: Straight Outta Compton costumes on display at the 24th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition in 2016 in the FIDM Museum (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 4.6: Straight Outta FIDM tank-tops and bling necklaces in the FIDM Museum gift shop (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 4.7: The real Hotel Figueroa, under construction in 2016 (photo: S. Ingram).
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 5.2: The Broad (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 5.3: FIDM at night (photo: S. Ingram).
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1: Tom Ford (Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 6.2: Giorgio Armani (Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 6.3: Giorgio Armani boutique on Rodeo Drive (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 6.4: Dov Charney (Wikimedia Commons).
Figure 6.5: American Apparel factory on S. Alameda (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 6.6: American Apparel store on the Pacific Coast Highway 181 in Malibu (photo: S. Ingram).
Figure 6.7: American Apparel ad in Santa Monica (photo: S. Ingram).
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1: Chris Burden’s Urban Light sculpture (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 7.2: Looking out over DTLA from the Ace Hotel roof 193 (photo: M. Reisenleitner).
Figure 7.3: Josephine Baker (Wikimedia Commons).
Acknowledgments

Los Angeles has always been a special place for us. It was our destination the first time we travelled together – a three-day road trip from Edmonton in 2000, and since then it has implicitly served as a kind of measuring rod that has helped us make sense of cities we have spent longer and shorter periods in: Hong Kong, Toronto, Vancouver, and Vienna, in particular. As the ideas for this book came together, we began to realize that we were not the only ones with much to learn from L.A., and we were buoyed time and again by the interest and encouragement we received as we began presenting the material that made its way into this book. Friends generously read drafts and made constructive suggestions, as did our extremely knowledgeable anonymous reviewers and the many colleagues and graduate students with whom we shared our ideas in fruitful exchanges over the past years. We are deeply thankful to you all, and to Intellect Books for continuing to tend our relationship and make possible the putting into practice of urban style as an intellectual pursuit.
Introduction

L.A. Chic: Between Rags and Riches
L.A. is probably the