The Westside Collective - A Mobile Boutique In Venice

A while back I started seeing super cute stuff pop up on Instagram from a cute little mobile trailer boutique in Venice called The Westside Collective. I reached out to its owner, Heather Roma, to find out a little more about it and check out all the great stuff, and hear how it came to be parked there on Lincoln Boulevard.

Roma was born in the Virgin Islands, raised in Connecticut and Florida, and did everything in fashion that you can think of along the way. She got bored in Florida, didn't really have a plan, but knew she wanted to move here. She began a fashion consulting and styling business called Westside Consulting, where she helped people launch their fashion brands, and did styling for photo shoots and things.

Living in Venice was great, and then Roma got pregnant and moved to Topanga. She found a fantastic trailer by chance, and at 8 months pregnant decided to start another business. This was not planned, but that's how life goes sometimes. Baby Hendrix was born, and Roma loaded up the truck with beautifully curated pieces for women, babies, pets, gifts, and the home, and started hitting festivals and having fun with it.

Topping was a bit too slow to keep it open up there between festivals, so when Roma heard about an opening to park the truck at the Love Shack space at 2121 Lincoln Boulevard, she took it, and has been parked there since May of this year. Everything in the truck is California or American made, and everything has an ethical aspect ... and everything is adorable.

From Roma's own brand, Growler Goods, that makes tipis for dogs (and coming soon will be big ones for play rooms or outdoor/meditation spaces) to the highly covetable dresses by Pitusa, to the crystal trolls by Blonde Omen ... there really is something for everyone in this great little trailer. Roma also has her own line of dresses and bodysuits, all of which I loved.

"I love the community feel in Venice, and there's always something to do here," said Roma, "I just love it here." Like her store, she thinks there's something for everyone here in Venice, and there is. She loves getting her coffee at Deus up the street, checking out what's new at Golden State, and is generally so busy that that stretch of Lincoln is her main domain.

The Westside Collective holds monthly local designer residencies (this month is Blonde Omen's turn), where their goods are featured on a table out front, and coming up on December 17, there will be a pop up Holiday party with drinks and fun shopping (also available online if you're elsewhere).

Lincoln is really becoming a destination for cool and interesting spots, and The Westside Collective is a most welcome addition to the neighborhood. Stop in any day, 10-6 and see what's up on the best side.

The Westside Collective
2121 Lincoln Boulevard
Venice
www.thewestsidecollectivetruck

Nick Fouquet Hat Company - Venice's Mad Hatter

When you see someone walking around Venice (or anywhere in the world now, really) with an extra cool hat on ... chances are it's a Nick Fouquet chapeau. His hat business is blowing up these days, as everyone from hard-working 9-5-ers to rock stars are knocking on the door of Fouquet's Abbot Kinney workshop to get their own "soul mate" of a hat.

Pharrell sported a Fouquet creation at the Grammys (not the big cartoony one, the other cool one he wore while performing). Madonna wore one recently. More importantly, people you know around Venice are wearing them ... and if they're not yet, they want one.

After working with his partner Greg Westbrook at Westbrook Maker, Fouquet went out on his own last year to put his stylish stamp on the craftsmanship that has remained the same for centuries of hat making. The work is a bit less western cowboy style now, with more a far more bohemian flair ... very Venice.

The Nick Fouquet Hat Company is now located in the Left House on Abbot Kinney, sharing the space with Kapital, Another Kind Of Sunrise, Howl, etc... It's a warm, homey workshop in the back space, watched over by Fouquet's sweet little dog, Luca.

Fouquet meets with clients to create their vision of what a perfect hat for them would be. Because it's such a custom experience, it's an investment (base prices range from $400 - $800), but one that will become a treasured heirloom, meant to be passed along for generations.

"It's a very personal process," says Fouquet, "You get to know the person, and then It's ALL about the details." Meaning once you measure the client's head and that technical part is done, it's about collaborating together to create a hat that expresses that individual's personal aesthetic.

That could mean trinkets from your life incorporated into your hat, like a key or a charm you love. Or trimmed with fabric from your Dad's favorite tie. Or lined in tie-dye because you're a hippie at heart. Fuschia leather. Paisley fabric. An antique pin. Whatever is unexpected and breaking idea barriers is the order of the day here. There are no rules, other than finding out what you will love and then bringing it to life.

When you know Fouquet, it all makes sense. He describes his own style as "Keith Richards meets a Japanese warrior meets a country club guy in France," and as eclectic as that sounds, he somehow makes it all come together to where you kind of want to copy him. But you can't, because he's him, and you're you, and that's the point. Making something awesome to wear around that reflects who YOU uniquely are. And in this increasingly homogenized world, we can always use (way) more of that.

A Fouquet hat is so one of a kind, he couldn't even re-create the exact same one again for you. He could come close, but the point is that each one is its own work of art, never to be repeated. They're meant to LIVE in - travel, fish, hit the beach, work all day in the sun or strut the red carpet in. Because it's all about you, it works wherever you want to wear it.

Though heads are sporting Nick Fouquet hats all over Venice, it's an increasingly international sensation that has your custom hat taking (as of this writing) 4-6 weeks to be delivered, once you've completed the vision process.

"Venice is a part of me ... I love it. I want my hats to be from here," said Fouquet as we sat talking on the front steps of the Left House in the warm winter sunshine. Though high-end publications like Vogue and all the celebrity stylists that read it are flocking to Fouquet's workshop to style out their clients, it still retains a very laid back, beach town atmosphere, as mutual friends come by and wave and pet the dog and shout out how they too want a hat. Once you've seen one, and how they're so lovingly hand-crafted ... you'll want one of your own.

Get yours. CREATE yours. And as Fouquet likes to say, "Keep on keeping on!"

Nick Fouquet Hat Co.
1629 Abbot Kinney Blvd. (in the back of Left House)
(424) 238.8382
Workshop hours: 11 am - 7 pm