Intermix Celebrates 20 Years With L.A. Party

MARKING A MILESTONE: After celebrating its 20th anniversary last week at the New Museum in New York, Intermix took its partying bi-coastal with a shindig at its Robertson Boulevard store in Los Angeles on Thursday night. To mark the occasion in New York, the retailer introduced its anniversary capsule collection with 20 exclusive pieces by the likes of Missoni, J Brand, Ohne Titel, Robert Rodriguez, L’Agence, Yigal Azrouel and A.L.C. In Los Angeles, one piece in particular was under the spotlight, the $275 headphones A.L.C. designer Andrea Lieberman collaborated on with Frends. Of the rationale behind the headphones collaboration, Khajak Keledjian said Intermix is “more than just a boutique or clothing store. It’s a lifestyle. Music is a big part of that lifestyle.”

Discussing designing the quilted, black leather headphones, Lieberman said, “Headphones are the quintessential modern urban accessory. I treated them like an accessory.” What are she and Keledjian listening to with their headphones? “I’m a classic Reggae girl,” said Lieberman. Keledjian said, “I’ve been using Pandora a lot. I don’t have to worry about what’s coming next.”

Twenty years ago, Keledjian started Intermix with a vision to take the retailer international, and it spread outside of the U.S. in 2011 with its first store in Canada, but is taking both international and domestic growth up a notch with help from Gap Inc., which acquired Intermix earlier this year. “Gap is a great organization. All my headaches are taken care of. It’s like a painkiller. They have such a platform. It’s unbelievable,” said Keledjian. In about two weeks, Intermix will have 36 locations, plus its e-commerce site, with the addition of new California stores in Marin County and Montecito.