Fall 2005 Style & Design
"All of my friends there worked for the top designers or in showrooms,"
Kohan says, perched on a chair in her gallery-like store with warm
rose-tinted concrete floors. "Once, I was visiting my friend who worked
at Prada, and Miuccia Prada asked me to take off my jeans so she could
Xerox them and study the stitching."
Kohan studied sociology and psychology at UCLA before she left for her
stint in Italy, where she worked free-lance for the likes of Marc Jacobs
Shoes, scouring flea markets for inspiration. And her affiliation with
celebrity stylists—Negar Ali (Beyoncé and Naomi Watts are clients) and
Lysa Cooper (Jessica Simpson, Gwen Stefani and Paris Hilton) and her
sister-in-law's father, Max Azria of BCBG—has proved to be beneficial
to her design-and-retail business.
"When you see what's in the stores, by the time it gets there, those
ideas are old," Kohan says. "The designers came up with these ideas
three seasons ago, and by the time it's available to the public, they're
on to the next. When I was a trend forecaster, I had to be 10 steps
ahead, to keep things superfresh. So I'm applying that same idea here.
I've been approached by every high-end boutique and department store to
carry my line, but I've decided to keep it small. That way I can have an
idea and then the clothes will be produced in a month."
For example, when her stylist friends say they can't find the perfect
belt, Kohan has a local artisan make it. Her tight collection of knit
separates and dresses in soothing neutral tones ($500-$800) is unique
but doesn't look like "origami," she says. It's all produced locally and
shares rack space with Hussein Chalayan and other celebrated local
designers, including Pegah Anvarian and Jasmin Shokrian, both longtime
friends.
To Kohan, it's easy, and the confidence she has in her taste is
reflected in the well-edited collection in her store, even without a
degree from Parsons or the Royal College of Art hanging on her wall.
"I didn't study anything to do with fashion. I wanted to get a formal
education and learn about the world," she says. "If you're a designer,
you're a designer, with or without the training. I designed the store
myself. I even designed these chairs we're sitting on. It's in
everything you do."
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