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The Business that Pink Poodle Pamela Built (plus $1,500 Loafers)
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Next to Ultra Suede is the first of two shops that definitively establish North Robertson’s design bona fides. Phyllis Morris, whose eponymous founder began her career in 1953 with the invention of the “poodle lamp,” modeled after her pink-dyed poodle Pamela, today is one of Southern California’s best known purveyors of interior design services and home furnishings. Morris, who had the courage and aesthetic sense to blend different styles of furniture to create imaginative decors, counted among her clients such celebrities as Gladys Knight, Allan Carr, Cher, Keith Moon and Joan Crawford. She died in 1988, and the business now is run by her daughter, Jamie Adler. Adler has added a shop called Circa, just a doorway away, which offers a collection of contemporary furniture. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The window displays, invariably stylish and often amusing, are worth a look.
Interrupting your passage from Phyllis Morris to Circa is one of two Christian Louboutin boutiques, which face one another from opposite sides of the street. Festooned with the French designer’s iconic red canopies, these stores shout Beverly Hills. Louboutin sells luxury handbags and shoes to women at one store and men’s shoes and accessories at the other. Shopping at Louboutin requires a sense of style, a sense of humor and either a substantial trust fund, the carried interest from a hedge fund or the salary of a major studio executive. Who else could (or would) shell out $1,500 for a pair of men’s loafers covered with what looks to be faux tiger skin and dappled with metal spikes? Louboutin is open Mondays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
On the opposite side of the street from Phyllis Morris is Kinara, a multi-level spa that is another sign that Beverly Hills has a foothold in WeHo. The Kinara folks say the name is Hindi for “on the edge,” which undoubtedly is how the beauty obsessed feel until they’ve finished their manicures, pedicures, hair cuts, massages and facials and can get a glance in the mirror to reassure themselves that the considerable expense ($50 for a manicure) was worthwhile. Appointments are available every day of the week. Call (310) 657-9188 to book.
