I used to work for a magazine called American Woman. Instead of being sold on newsstands or by subscription, it was distributed only in hair salons. But it wasn’t about hair.
It was a fashion and lifestyle magazine for women. But what it was really about–or, rather, how it sold itself to advertisers–was its captive audience.
This was a big idea in the late ’80s. It was capitalized upon by Whittle Communication, which also created Channel One, broadcast programming for kids in school. Whittle was always looking for a captive audience–in a doctor’s office, even, they figured, to people sitting on toilets (hence the stall-back posters with ads you have undoubtedly encountered).
American Woman never flew. But I remembered it today when I set up a display of Hexaon jewelry in my own hair salon–Modem Salon & Spa, on Silver Lake Blvd., in Los Angeles. I am lucky to have my own sort of captive audience, since mine is the only jewelry line that Modem is featuring.
Lucky, too, to have Casey, the salon’s colorful receptionist as the newest member of my Spokesmodel Army. She fell in love with the “Zut Alors” brooch!
My first long-haul road trip was in a Cadillac Coupe de Ville from Cincinnati, my hometown, to Los Angeles, in 1988.
One thing we did make sure to do while in L.A. was go to Melrose Avenue. The famous strip for out-there clothing and music-centric youth culture was known to us even in the Midwest. I’d read about it in Details magazine; before it was bought by Conde Nast, Details was the first underground-culture publication out of NYC to take L.A. seriously. Melrose Avenue was l.a.Eyeworks (whose ads enthralled me); Aaardvaarks (the first important vintage store in L.A.) and Johnny Rockets, the first (or one of the first) faux-’50s diner. (Though we hated fakes, there was no denying the yumminess of the burgers and shakes, and the jukebox had the Shangri-La’s on it.)
Two fantastic boutiques have bought the Hexagon line. 
I will admit I am a snob. There is very little in the world of contemporary jewelry that I like. That makes it easy for me to zero in on what does appeal to me and what I want to communicate with the pieces I make.
One place I can always see pieces that inspire and thrill me is Metal and Thread. This boutique in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn is run by Denise Carbonell, a woman I met in NYC 2 decades ago when she was an emerging fashion designer. Her boutique is an atelier of local artisans’ work. It all seems to fit together, though you can hear the disparate voices in the various lines.
The pop-up store 
I brought the Hexagon collection of handbags and jewelry pieces to two boutiques today. 
Being in this store is a big coup because it is one of those brilliantly curated spots that have put L.A. retail on the map. Besides Nathalie’s own collection of flirty, feminine clothing, it also stocks vintage Dorothy Thorpe glassware, French-motif home decor items, chic hats, and even kids’ clothing and toys. One of Nathalie’s reversible skirt designs is so popular that she can barely keep it in stock. Here’s 
