Shop the world at the new St. Frank in Pacific Palisades
In addition to the baby alpaca throws and cozy cushions that home accessories brand St. Frank is known for, the walls of its newly opened store in Pacific Palisades boast surfboards, which despite their decorative patterns, are designed for hitting the waves out there on the Pacific.
“I took one out this morning,” brand founder Christina Bryant said of the boards, the result of a collaboration with Oceanside, Calif., shaper Gary Linden. “You can mount them on a wall or actually surf on them.”
Bryant opened the store — the fourth in the St. Frank family — in Rick Caruso’s new Pacific Palisades development in early October. A Los Angeles location had been in the crosshairs of the 5-year old brand for a couple of years, given that the city is its second largest market. She also wanted it to feel “site-specific” — and different from the other outposts in San Francisco, New York and East Hampton.
“We wanted to do it hacienda-style, with curved walls, and give it sort of an adobe feeling,” Bryant said. “The wallpaper here has a little bit more of a Southwestern vibe to it, compared to our store in East Hampton, for example, that has a more traditional New England coastal cottage feel.”
The contents of the boutique, however, are what customers have come to expect from the brand, which was founded after Bryant spent a couple of years in Rwanda working for an NGO. Upon her return to New York, she found herself wanting to decorate her home using the handmade pieces she had discovered in Africa, but noted that the aesthetic didn’t quite work for a modern Western customer.
“I wanted to create a brand that spoke to my values as a world traveler, off the beaten track, in search of authentic products,” she said.
Her design team works with artisans around the world, combining their traditional craftsman practices with a Western sensibility; so a linen quilt ($450) is made using Kantha, a style of stitching native to women in rural Bengal, India, most typically adorning their saris. Washed Indigo trays ($450), are made by woodwork artisans in the Philippines. Closer to home, cuffs are woven by Native Americans in New Mexico, using traditional Navajo techniques.
The Hacienda
Where: 15259 Palisades Village Lane, Pacific Palisades
When: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Info: stfrank.com
