Dear Reader,

I’m so glad to see you here.

I founded this site in mid-2022 with the goal of covering Los Angeles and the broader Southern California fashion industry—through the lens of a Californian.

I’ve been a business reporter for more than 15 years now and currently work for an apparel trade publication (hence the current anonymity). The major outlets covering the fashion industry have never been headquartered in California and their Los Angeles correspondents have historically served as feeders for content from Hollywood’s red carpet or when the doors open on a luxury brand’s new boutique, working assignments defined by New York-based editors who view California from a different perch. Boho chic and denim factories are what this market has largely been relegated to as secondary or even tertiary to the news that comes out of New York, London, Milan and Tokyo. IPOs, fundraises, acquisitions and celebrity proximity have been the easy ways of defining brand success. Those from here know differently.

Fashion doesn’t exist in a vacuum; nothing does. Good journalism always aims to ask the why rather than write a thinly-reported book report to bait web traffic. Meaningful stories find the common thread bridging, in this case fashion, with the investors that fund labels, the regulatory environment, the workforces brands employ, industries it intersects with and the local communities that inspire designs and wholesale movements. The spotlight has been on Los Angeles fashion in more recent years, begging the question of whether the market is finally getting its due. Plot points such as Tom Ford taking over Hedi Slimane’s former studio space here, Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2023 show in La Jolla or L.A. designer Rhuigi Villaseñor being tapped as creative director for the Swiss luxury house Bally seem to suggest as much. But California’s fashion industry existed before any of the outside validation.

I remember many years ago a private label company insisting I change a line in one of my stories to say they were “Los Angeles based,” rather than “Vernon based.” Their preference was to be associated with a more high-profile name, rather than being attached to the 5.2-square-mile industrial city that is Vernon. A couple years later, walking through AG Jeans’ South Gate denim factory, I noted the hang tags proudly touting pieces made in the Gateway city.

It’s on that latter point, I pick back up with what I aim to build with Vernon Proper. There’s more to California and West Coast fashion than just Los Angeles, celebrity collaborations and cocktail parties. The coverage is just getting started. I’m here, open to any questions, story pitches or conversations. Just email [email protected].

Thank you for stopping by and looking forward to hearing from you.

-VP