The scene was a culmination of the brand founders’ new power in the L.A. fashion scene.
Melrose Place became a little more fabulous Wednesday night when the Frame denim store hosted globetrotting style icon Giovanna Battagliafor the L.A. stop of her book signing tour for Gio Graphy: Fun in the Wild World of Fashion.
Dressed in head-to-toe leopard print, and surrounded by her signature colorful balloons and candy, Battaglia held forth with a red feather pen. “I like to think of it as accessible outrageousness,” she said of the scrapbook of her stylish exploits, with plenty of practical advice for such tricky fashion situations as how to deal with uncomfortable shoes when you’re meeting Pedro Almodovar: “Take them off and pretend to talk on the phone with them!”
Battaglia was in town to visit her dear friends Jens Grede and Erik Torstensson, the Swedish co-founders of the L.A.-based fashion brand Frame who are close friends with her husband, fellow Swede Oscar Engelbert. Continuing the Swedish mafia theme, stylist B Akerlund stopped by to say hello to the group.
After the event, everyone migrated to the Chateau Marmont, where jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer; beauty entrepreneur Cassandra Grey; artist Alex Israel and China Chow; designers Rachel Zoe and Greg Chait; stylist/designer Jamie Mizrahi; choreographer Stephen Galloway; and Tortensson’s partner, Natalie Massenet, joined for a margarita-fueled dinner.
The scene was a culmination of the Frame co-founders’ new power in the L.A. fashion scene. Grede and Tortensson have been steadily growing their business since launching premium denim in 2012, evolving Frame into a full lifestyle collection with a vision of reflecting “American culture through a European lens.”