LOS ANGELES — Max Azria, designer of the contemporary line BCBG Max Azria, is at last letting his separate designer collection stand on its own two feet.
Azria has been flirting with the idea of producing a full-fledged designer collection since 2001, when the company launched BCBG Max Azria Collection, a designer-price line carried in BCBG stores. In February, the Tunisian-born designer renamed the line simply Max Azria and on Wednesday, he opened the first freestanding store devoted to the label, on Melrose Avenue here.
The 2,760-square-foot location, a converted BCBG store, is the first of five freestanding Max Azria stores scheduled to open by November, in SoHo in New York; Paris; Palm Beach, Fla.; Newport Beach, Calif., and possibly in Dallas, said the company.
The store here opened with the line’s resort collection, which Azria said “plays a lot with texture — burlap, linen knits and silk knits. It’s a very piece-by-piece collection. Every item must be a piece of art.”
The designer admitted the line suffered a few false starts. “We designed the collection for a long time, but were restricted by cost and price,” he said. “Then we decided, you know, forget the cost — let’s just think about creating an exceptional product.”
Patrick McGregor, vice president of public relations for the company, said the collection’s former connection to BCBG — in name and on the retail level — made it difficult for consumers to justify spending on a higher-price line so closely bound to a well-known contemporary brand.
Said Azria, “The name change was to make a clear distinction between the two. The contemporary collection has certain restrictions [dictated by] the market and the consumer. This designer collection is my freedom project.”
Despite wanting to steer the higher-price collection away from the contemporary line, the company also plans to launch Max Azria shops-in-shops in 10 existing BCBG shops, including the Beverly Hills store on Rodeo Drive.
The decor of the Melrose Avenue store is a departure from the minimalist, whitewalled BCBG units. Natural elements such as tree trunks and stones are juxtaposed with old-world accents, such as vintage wooden stools and a collage of retro stamped-metal tiles.
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The privately owned BCBG Max Azria — launched in 1989 and led by Azria and his wife, creative director Lubov Azria — operates 320 mostly mall-based stores and is based here. The company plans to open 50 more BCBG Max Azria stores by the end of this year.