Catwalk on Fairfax

Catwalk on Fairfax is one of Los Angeles’s hidden gems, but has long been a place of pilgrimage for the fashionistas and the style cognoscenti. It has been featured in Lady Gaga’s own style blog. Kanye, Diddy and Miley are frequent visitors as are many of the great designers such as Tom Ford, John Galliano, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Nicolas Ghesquière to name just a few.

CATWALK ON FAIRFAX AS SEEN BY LA DESIGNER JOANNA HADFIELD AND PHOTOGRAPHER ANDREW MACPHERSON.

CATWALK was started almost two decades ago by Renee Johnston and Michelle Webb. Renee was a costume designer and Michelle a music video producer, and both shared an absolute passion for fashion. That led to the idea of creating a unique vintage store that would be more focused on curating incredible collections than just selling clothes.

After almost twenty years their collection has grown into around 100,000 pieces, and their new goal is to create a fashion and design museum. Andrew Macpherson interviewed Renee and Michelle about their history and the dream of a new fashion museum for this story, which features unique and historic pieces from their archives.

AM: How did Catwalk Fairfax start?

Renne: The store’s name is Catwalk, @catwalkfairfax is our Instagram handle. We decided to call it that because our landlady is Julie Newmar who was the original Catwoman for Batman TV show. We hadn't signed the lease yet, but when we told her we were going to call it Catwalk she loved it. Of course we wanted to make her happy but we also thought it was appropriate for what we wanted to do with vintage designer clothing.

Michelle: She did our numerology too, and our numbers worked, so she liked that too.

AM: What were your numbers? Do you remember?

Renee: No, that was almost twenty years ago.

AM: So what were you both doing before you opened Catwalk? Michelle, you first.

Michelle: I was a music video commissioner for Atlantic Records, which is how I met Renee. The producer was trying to embezzle money from wardrobe and I caught him, so then Renee and I went out shopping to style the video and we had an absolute blast. That’s how it all started, then over time we decided to turn our passion for fashion into a business.

AM: Sweet, so Renee, how did you get there?

Renee: I started out as a costume designer. I did Spinal Tap with Rob Reiner and also worked a lot with Guy Bourdin and with Larry Flynt on Hustler. That led to doing a lot of music videos for MTV and the A&R group in New York and LA. Then I started directing.

AM: Guy Bourdin, that’s amazing, do you have any of that work?

Renee: Yes, it’s in a box in the attic somewhere.

AM: I want to see it, please! What was your fav vid that you directed?

Renee: The one I did for Dawn Penn’s song You Don’t Love Me, which everyone knows as No, No, No! jumps to mind first.

:AM: Such a great a great track and time for music videos too! Tell us about your vision for creating a fashion museum. I know you've been curating this collection for a long time, and have several thousand pieces here.

Renee: We’re close to a hundred thousand pieces now. We’ve curated many collections within the collection, and believe it's important that they get seen, especially by people who love fashion and style.

AM: You've already shown me some amazing pieces, like the Grace Jones Azzadine Alaïa knitted dress, that beautiful Azzedine denim jacket and the Gaultier Junior leopard print jacket we shot here, all of which I remember from my time in Paris. Do you see displaying everything as a permanent installation or as a revolving show? What kind of space do you imagine it being housed in?

Renee: I’d love to see it in a classic museum, kind of like the de Young in San Francisco, LACMA or maybe even the V&A. I’d see it as a permanent but constantly revolving collection.

Michelle: And I see elements of it going out as a series traveling shows too, but as a part of The Catwalk Collection. I’d love to see it displayed in Art & Design spaces all over the globe.

AM: That’s such an inspiring idea, I look very forward to seeing you both manifest it. Thanks so much for opening your beautiful shop up to us, and good luck with the museum.