Fred Segal, the designer and retailer behind the namesake stores, died on Thursday due to complications from a stroke. He was 87 and is survived by his wife, Tina, and five children.
Segal’s clothing boutiques in Los Angeles were an early hit with the celebrity crowd; his signature assortment of trendy tops and too-cool jeans helped define the look of West Coast style. During the 2000s, paparazzi magnets such as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan could be spotted leaving his stores carrying the iconic white, blue, and red shopping bags. (He had a large retail presence outside of California as well, with outposts in Taiwan, Switzerland, and Tokyo at one point.)
Segal was born on August 16, 1933, in Chicago. He opened his first store in 1960 on Santa Monica Boulevard, reports the The New York Times. Some of his earliest customers included the Beatles, Diana Ross, Farrah Fawcett, and even Elvis Presley (he designed Presley’s wardrobe for a number of years). “In the 1960s there weren’t paparazzi and tabloids and the internet like there are today,” Segal once said. “But the Beatles came in to shop, and it got so much attention that it caused a traffic jam outside.”
Only a year later Segal opened a second store on Melrose Avenue specializing in jeans at first. Indeed he was one of the first to hop on the then nascent designer denim movement: Where other shops at the time sold jeans for $3, Segal sold them at a premium for almost $20, a move that paid off.
In addition to selling his own designs, Segal had a keen eye for new labels, partnering with the likes of Juicy Couture when it first appeared on the scene. “Fred pioneered the shop-in-shop concept and experiential retail, which remains the essence of our brand 60 years later,” Jeff Lotman, CEO and owner of Fred Segal, said in a statement. “His forward-thinking concept continues to discover and support up-and-coming designers and create iconic fashion moments, changing that face of retail forever.”
His ivy-covered Melrose flagship was his most well-known
and -loved location, a bona fide tourist attraction both for its wares and celebrity sightings. (Famous faces were frequently seen at the store’s Mauro’s Cafe.) Shuttered in 2019, the Melrose store has been referenced in several movies, including Legally Blonde and Clueless.
Segal’s family is asking those wishing to honor the pioneering retailer’s legacy to make a donation to the Segal Family-United World Foundation.