Meet the Producer: James Perse
The prince of jersey lounges around Nordstrom this Saturday, July 25
Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jul 24, 2009 at 09:00AM
3 Comments
James Perse, he of the almost embarrassingly soft and perfectly fitted jersey knits and basics (and ever-expanding lifestyle line) will be hanging out at your Downtown Nordstrom from 1p to 3p on Saturday July 26, aka tomorrow.
That’s the clean-cut James Perse there, in blue, with Perse the Elder, his father Tommy of Maxfield, the legendary, supermodern Melrose Ave portal of avant-garde style.
Kind of crazy, huh?
I guess if your dad was the guy generally credited with breaking Commes des Garcon and Yohji Yamamoto on the left coast, you might respond by going all straight and narrow, too.
I’ll confess that I can’t stop looking at that photo, which I stole from this LA Times piece on the couldn’t-be-more-different (ala young republican Alex P. Keaton and his hippy pops Steven on Family Ties) father/son duo.
As soon as you’re done here, you must go read it.
As the LA Times piece reports, Nordstrom was the first department store to pick up Perse’s clean, minimalist line when it launched seven years ago, so no wonder Perse stops by when he’s in town.
You’ll note the Times piece also hints at the possibility of a boutique hotel under the James Perse name. That’d be something to chat with him about as you sip a specialty cocktail and grab a passed appetizer at Saturday’s event. Can you even imagine the sheets, towels, and robes at a place like that??
To use the vernacular of the Perse family’s native LA, I die.
While I bet the hotel would be so cool, I am curious as to what your opinions are when brands expand to cover other areas out of their original plan/expertise? I know that good designers can transcend their style to other lines, but still. When I think of Giorgio Armani, I think of men’s suits, not a hotel in Dubai. When I think of Louis Vuitton, I think of a trunk and luggage maker, not red moon shoes by Kanye West. When I want sunglasses I think of Ray Ban or Persol, not Tod’s (wtf?). Just curious.
Hey Nick – I think where I agree with you is where these excursions start to feel like branding for branding sake… it underscores the modern (I’d say American but I think it’s not just us) obsession with associating oneself with a label or a name
- perhaps/often at the expense of one’s own identity. Certain segments of society and certain designers are dishearteningly co-dependent that way. Here I think of designers who launch kids lines … the whole Marc Jacobs and Little Marc thing. That can feel really gross-and yes, Perse does a kiddie line. On the other hand, I’m a true jack-of-many-trades and master of not very many, and I relate to an organic meandering between this specialty and that … and hey, here’s an American trait that we can feel good about: Reinvention. I guess I get more annoyed by “actors” turned recording “artists” — or really, wherever the talent was not there to begin with and it only gets more watered down the further afield it goes … but I think my bottom line is that it’s a case-by-case basis kind of thing. I can really imagine that the younger Perse grew up around a lot of interesting design and architecture, and I don’t feel like I need to begrudge him his dalliances in those arenas. It just doesn’t seem like a giant, random leap or a publicity stunt tho absolutely and for sure he benefits from be Perse the younger — I mean, who launches a career with trucker hats? But honestly, the bed linens at the James Perse Motel One Million would be so perfect.Thanks for your input! Yeah the “actors” and “artist” thing bothers me too.