Longing to infuse a bit of Los Angeles cool into your wardrobe? West Coast Vibes is a one-stop shop for casual, comfortable apparel, and unique jewelry and gifts otherwise hard to find in Big D.
Entrepreneur Lori Landes opened the Snider Plaza boutique last month to fill a gap in Dallas’ retail landscape. Landes grew up summering — and more to the point, shopping — in Southern California and yearned to bring her favorite brands to her hometown.
“When my two favorite stores, Fred Segal and Kitson, went out of business, I was so bummed,” says Landes. “I wanted to bring the same feel that those stores had and the lines they carried to Dallas. I felt we were really missing that type of boutique.”
To wit: West Coast Vibes carries names beloved by Californians — and beach bums across the country, for that matter — such as good hYOUman, Vintage Havana, Current/Elliott, and Sundry. Many names are based in the Golden State, too.
For kids, there’s Wildfox, 3 Dreamers, Junk Food, and a bevy of others. Inspired by her tween daughter, Landes, a mom of five, wanted to ensure the store offered something for the whole family — and stocked it with sizes as small as 3T.
But it's West Coast Vibes' line of bombers — the jacket du jour — that's generated the most buzz. Landes created a small collection as gifts for brand reps and things "snowballed from there."
Available in a range of colors and more than 20 styles, jackets (like virtually everything else in the store) can be personalized via patches and an onsite embroidery machine — so state of the art, Landes says, that it can even embroider images uploaded from a customer's flash drive. Recent projects include bombers for a group of basketball moms and a Chanel purse.
“There's something for everyone, whether you’re a working mom, a stay-at-home mom, a workout warrior, a college student, or in kindergarten,” says Landes. “No matter where you live, the sound and feel of a West Coast vibe just puts a smile on your face.”
West Coast Vibes is now open in Snider Plaza.
