Iconic Los Angeles fashion brand Fred Segal is returning to Santa Monica with a new store at 1533 Montana Avenue. The retailer announced its new location on social media last week to the surprise and delight of many.
“We’re always happy to have something interesting and fabulous on Montana and Fred Segal is a perfect fit for us,” said Jane Walker with the Montana Avenue Merchants Association. Walker, whose store Texture is several blocks West of the new Fred Segal, said people come to Montana looking for experiences that are a little bit different and more interesting than the everyday.
“We’re very excited and very happy,” she said. “I’ve been on the street 30 years and I like it when we get those types of stores because they’re in keeping with what’s here.”
The new Montana location is a homecoming of sorts for the company. Once upon a time, the brand had two iconic stores at 5th and Broadway. The company sold the first of the pair in 2012 and in 2014, that space officially closed making way for what became a large mixed-use development with an underground Trader Joe’s store. The facing property closed in 2016 after many years of vacancy, it eventually reopened as a Target.
The brand’s namesake and original owner died in 2021 at Providence Saint John’s Health Center. At the time he was remembered for changing the face of Los Angeles fashion and helping define a sense of “California Cool.”
He opened his first store, specializing in denim, in 1961 in West Hollywood and the location eventually moved to Melrose Ave. Over time the brand expanded and it was sold multiple times before landing under current owners Global Icons.
Fred Segal now has seven locations, including an international outpost in Seoul.
Assistant General Manager Noah Zietz said they were “super stoked” to return to Santa Monica with a store that uses the same multi-brand concept and provides a platform to new and emerging designers.
“I just feel like Santa Monica has always been like one of those iconic spots specifically for Fred Segel,” he said. “I think so many people grew up going there and just always had the two hand in hand — Santa Monica and Fred Segal.”
Zietz said the move to Montana from Downtown makes a lot of sense as the store has a lot in common with existing Montana retailers.
“We do have the boutiquey feel and I think Montana is really just like a great representation of that,” he said. “I think all of the little boutiques here and just kind of being a part of that, like a smaller community and just kind of being more with the people.”