Just One Eye
A Los Angeles treasure trove.
Tucked away on a nondescript Hollywood street, a few hundred feet from a grey, thrumming cement-mixing plant, stands luxury boutique Just One Eye.
Despite being housed in Howard Hughes’s former art deco headquarters, the storefront is easy to miss and betrays no hints of the treasures within. Only a small valet parking sign alerts patrons to the hidden world curated by buyer and co-owner Paola Russo.
A guard greets visitors in a small foyer lined with coffee-table books and small sculptures—all for sale—before ushering them down the stark, narrow hallway leading to the 5,000-square-foot space that encompasses dressing rooms as big as New York studio apartments, a jewellery showroom dedicated to delicate pieces by Andy Warhol protégé Wilfredo Rosado, and the spacious main gallery.
There is no separation between art and fashion here. “It’s all about what catches your eye,” says Russo, a former Maxfield fashion director who moved to Los Angeles 30 years ago from France. A 10-foot-by-10-foot Damien Hirst spot painting dominates the wall space immediately across from the entry. It’s not for sale, but an exquisite $300,000 (U.S.) Victoire de Castellane necklace is, as are a few remaining pairs of the $25,000 Converse sneakers designed by Nate Lowman and hand-cut from the artist’s original canvases.
Designer dresses and jackets, most in solids, from Chloé, Bouchra Jarrar, and Alexandre Vauthier hang gracefully from the clothes racks that line the rectangular room, while shoes, both classic and boldly imaginative, from Christian Louboutin, Gianvito Rossi, and Mai Lamore rest below.
Word of mouth is Just One Eye’s best advertising, leading to a global clientele all in search of that one unforgettable item with its own unique story, hand-picked by Russo and her discerning eye.
