Isabel Marant Warehouse Sample Sale Report

Runway image from elle.com. One of the S/S 2011 jackets that I picked up. Freja is also the face of the AW 2011 campaign

Sample sales used to be a part of my regular routine back in NYC where it seemed like there were sample sales every other day. I'm not sure if I've even been to a sample sale in LA, with the exception of the Barneys New York Warehouse sale and perhaps a couple of bridal sample sales with friends. Usually the sales are in downtown LA, like at the Cooper Building, where a lot of designers have showrooms, which is way too far of a trek for me, especially with traffic and parking.

Isabel Marant has been on my radar for awhile now; I never owned any pieces but her clothes definitely fit the effortlessly cool look of Los Angeles.  Her cut and tailoring are really unique and her clothes have a lot of style and personality. Definitely an element of Downtown (NYC) / Eastside (LA) / Parisian chic. I like how her clothes aren't completely ubiquitous yet; the only department store that I'm aware of where you can find Isabel Marant is Barneys.  She doesn't have an LA retail store and is carried in a few specialty boutiques like Creatures of Comfort and Heist in Venice. She's well known for her boots, including her slouchy fringe boots as well as the more short cowboy style Dicker boots which have been sold out everywhere. I've been recently gravitating towards her aesthetic especially with fall approaching with recent Theyskens Theory purchases (including a messenger bag, to come) and my new Fryes that I've been wearing with everything.

I still wasn't sure if I would go, but at the last minute today, I decided I might regret it if I didn't check it out, so I decided to brave Friday afternoon traffic and head to the Cooper Building. I barely made it in time, a combination of luck and navigation of local roads around Koreatown (thank goodness for GPS), and I got there just as the doors were shutting. I always like to go to sample sales towards the end of the sale as the markdowns usually are the best and this was no exception. Sometimes you have to sacrifice selection, but my theory is that if it was meant to be, it will be, and the pieces will be there. There's very few things that I can't live without. The selection was still pretty good by the time I got there and I'm so excited about my haul at really amazing prices. I picked up two S/S 2011 jackets that are perfect fall / winter jackets for LA (Ed and Boyle), one S/S 2011 Garland skirt, one Etoile Isabel Marant S/S 2011 tweed Cooke skirt and a pair of Etoile Isabel Marant cords. The people working the sale were really nice and it was overall such a great experience. I was looking at the insides of the jackets and the construction really is amazing. Both skirts have pockets which I always love. Usually I don't gravitate towards separates as it requires thought to pair tops and bottoms, but I had fun trying on some of my purchases last night with my existing wardrobe. Given the intricacies of the pieces and uniqueness of cuts, it's really hard to know what will look good until actually tried on. Sizing seems to run a bit on the small side though inconsistently; I bought pieces in both size 0 and 1, although there were a couple of size 0 pieces that I tried on that I couldn't fit into. There weren't any size 0 pieces of the ones that I bought in size 1, so I couldn't really compare. The pieces I bought are generally a little loose, but I think intentionally so, like the jacket above. I wish I had more time to look at the pants, jewelry, shoes, as well as bags from Jerome Dreyfuss, Isabel Marant's husband, but it's probably good for my wallet that I was out of time. I can't wait to wear everything; all the pieces will be perfect for fall, and I'm officially done (banned) with shopping for the upcoming season.

S/S campaign image. Image from isabelmarant.com