:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45386870/racked_placeholder.4.0.jpg)
Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
Los Angeles has more stores than anyone could physically tackle, but somehow we always keep returning to the usual suspects. To break out of the rut, we've asked some local shopping and fashion gurus to provide their hidden retail gems—those unique stores around LA that we might not all know about. Cue the Beatles: We're about to get a little help from our friends.
Image via The Style King
Alison Clare Steingold is the senior editor at C Magazine, a publication covering all aspects of the good life in the Golden State. She's been on the masthead since its launch in 2005, and oversees food and wine coverage and digital content (stay tuned for their new website) as well as developing the semiannual men's and C Weddings issues. When off duty, the certified yoga teacher and Venice resident loves checking out Surfing Cowboys on Abbott Kinney.
"So, I'm in search of the perfect green Malm fireplace, and former fashion photographer Donna Gunther sources a seemingly endless, colorful parade at Surfing Cowboys. The Mojave-meets-Malibu wonderland just down the street has been around long before Abbot Kinney became, well, Abbot Kinney. Like a mishmash of the old Pasadena Art Museum ‘California Design’ exhibitions in the '60s and '70s, the edited (but jam-packed) gift and furniture trove really does highlight vintage Golden State culture—from Serape blankets pitch-perfect for Point Reyes to wall-mounted skateboards emblematic of SC's gypset Venice location. Whether chunky turquoise rings and Danish-mod credenzas or Paul McCobb sofas and sunburst Stan Bitters tiles, a chic and quirky inventory means something for everyone. I never visit without a notepad for jotting names to research later. (Who knew Tropi-Cal rattan could be so fascinating?)."
· Surfing Cowboys [Official Site]
· C Magazine [Official Site]
· All Shopping Confidential Posts [Racked LA]