My wife and baby girl and I had a little time to kill today and we took a cruise over to Melrose and Fairfax where dunks reign supreme and if you ain’t got the sticker on your New Era, you best to get the fuck out.

Thanks to the vision of Eddie Cruz, who opened Supreme on Fairfax 2 or 3 years ago, the spot has blown up into what is undeniably the West Coast streetwear Mecca. Store front signs reading Alife, The Hundreds, Supreme, SLB, Flight Club LA, Hall of Fame (a shop of strictly fitted caps), Turntable Lab, Diamond Supply Co. and a rumored new edition of an LA arm of Huf, make this block and a half strip in the heart of LA’s Jewish neighborhood the undisputed go-to spot for bright graphic tees, hoodies, skateboards, Jordan IVs and all the other hot shit you be trying to get your hands on. The block is flooded with young people in dark denim, crisp Nikes, and crooked New Eras. Anywhere else and you might look cool in your fresh new gear. Here, you’re just another sneakerhead.

Every shop has it’s own look and it’s own vibe, some I feel, some I don’t. Supreme is obviously classic. Fresh decks and fresh gear.

While I was at Supreme today I ran into my boy Eric, the buyer at Backside in Burbank and their online store: droppingstyles.com which both carry CHILDREN.

Alife, I just don’t get. I know they’ve blown up on the east coast, but I just don’t see the Sesame Street face shirts selling very well. I mean, would you where one of those?

Alife did have some cool shoes, though. The solid color ones were nice. The store is one hallway with like, 10 foot bullet-proof glass walls on either side that the items are displayed behind.

Diamond is a clean, sleek, modern space. It’s nice, but they only have about 4 shirts and 3 decks in their store. I like it, but I don’t see how they’re staying in business.

Diamond:

The Hundreds store is small but they’ve got a nice selection of their stuff. If you’ve ever read their blog, I’m sure you’ve seen images of their store. It’s all black and clean.

A view from inside The Hundreds (image jacked from thehundreds.com):

The store that really stands out over there, though is SLB.

SLB is owned by legendary skateboarder Sal Barbier and carries a supply of Vans, Lee Jeans authentic line (which are dope and I really haven’t seen anywhere else), Clarks shoes (they had a cool pair of camouflage ones)

and some camping/hunting type jackets and Fedora hats. Definitely not your run-of-the-mill streetwear store. Solid, masculine stuff, more like an upscale and modernized Dogtown Z-Boys-style store. Part skater, part cholo, part tattoo artist.

So if you’ve never been to Fairfax between Beverly and Melrose, get your ass over there.

Tags: streetwear fairfax skateboard los angeles fashion