Shooting from the hipster slant

Alicia Robinson

For Justin Marvonek, the key to success will be details.

After opening a store in Costa Mesa a year ago to sell clothing,

including some of his own design, he’s on the verge of launching a

new line, Rock Underground, for discriminating hipsters.

Marvonek’s East 17th Street store doesn’t have an overhead sign in

front, just his last name in appropriately minimalist lettering on

the window. Inside, the cherry-red floor is bare. Wall-mounted

shelves hold a few artfully coiled belts, and below them hangs a

sparse selection of outre fashions, such as a black sweater with

silver-dollar-sized holes knitted into the sleeves.

“Business in the shop has been OK,” said Marvonek, 29. “It’s been

kind of a development area for me.... I wanted a space to design in.”

That’s what he does behind a wall at the back of the shop. Empty

display counters serving as a work table are draped with clothes in

various stages of construction. They’re part of his new line created

in partnership with Joel Hendricks, 37.

An Orange County native, Hendricks had been working on his own

T-shirt designs and brainstorming new ideas when he met Marvonek, a

self-taught designer, a few months ago.

“I actually came over to show him the line and he said, ‘This is

great, but it could be a lot better,’” Hendricks said.

A collaboration was born. The line will include form-fitting pants

with no side seams, a strapless long dress that laces up the back

like a corset, and fleece scarves with poems by Hendricks printed on

them. The details -- the quality of the fabrics, unexpected seams,

the tailored look -- are what will set the line apart, Marvonek said.

“We’re really targeted at the rock ‘n’ roll consumer,” Hendricks

said. “I grew up listening to punk rock music, which is about

individualism, free thinking and kind of doing your own thing.”

The official launch of the Rock Underground line is set for

February, and Marvonek said he plans to hold art and fashion shows in

the store, which he’s already been doing successfully.

The line may get a celebrity boost from Hendricks’ connections --

he formerly handled merchandising for the band Linkin Park, and the

band’s drummer recently wore a Rock Underground T-shirt in a video

for MTV.

Marvonek and Hendricks have big plans for 2005. After the launch

of Rock Underground, someone will have to be hired to run the store

because “we’ll be traveling the world,” Marvonek said.