JAMES PERSE
"Growing up in Los Angeles, my life consisted of two worlds. One was full of sports, the beach and friends; the other, waiting around for my father, Tommy Perse at his high fashion boutique, Maxfield. I'd spend hours playing with the sales people and customers, and almost by accident, wound up with an incredible education in the most inventine designs and most famous designers in the world.
But my thing was always sports and everything that went with it. I was obsessed with baseball caps, but could never find a well-made hat, with good shape, fabric and coloring. So I spent the summer of 1991 making my kind of hat for Maxfgield, and it was not long before the customers became clients. Movie directors wanted them for their cast and crew gifts, record labels wanted them for tours - and before I knew it a business was born. One taste and I never looked back.
I moved on to t-shirts - at first manufacturing them for other people, but soon found I had discovered another unfilled niche, this time in the retail world.
In 1996, I launched the James Perse label, starting with women's knits, refining and perfecting the shape and softness, and having built that, added men's, children's, and a home collection. The business has since grown to include everything from jackets and sweaters to pants and dresses.
Everything I create mixes the sophistication of the design and architecture that I grew up around with the casual warmth of the Southern California lifestyle. In building the Melrose store, I was able to fulfill my dream of creating an experience that would capture my sensibility and allow me to share my passions from clothing to visual imagery and architecture. I am planning more retail stores on the East and West Coasts and to open a boutique hotel that offers people a chance to live the James Perse lifestyle."
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