Cio Soler Wants to Retell Story of Retail With Sita 1910 Beverly Hills Boutique
Fashion veteran Cio Soler is out to retell the story of retail with her for-those-in-the-know boutique Sita 1910 in Beverly Hills.
“There’s no brand names here, just creators,” she said on a tour of her highly curated, by-appointment space, where personal attention is paramount.
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Sita was created out of the pandemic when Soler, a former designer and creative director herself, noticed the more under-the-radar talents she’d followed over the years were suffering the most by having all their orders canceled.
So, she started selling pieces out of a condo unit she wasn’t using. “I said send me 15 jackets, and I will sell them,” she explained of the impromptu set-up, where she invited friends to come shop.
That idea blossomed into a store, located behind the Peninsula Hotel, and soon inside it when Sita 1910 pops up there Aug. 1 to Nov. 1.
Meanwhile, Sita’s upstairs space on Lasky Drive resembles a chic apartment more than a boutique, with black-and-white retro glamour shots on the walls, colorful graffiti art, baskets overflowing with Tim Ryan disco fringe knits or Soler’s private label crochet clutches and pompom slides. The dressing room is boudoir-like, with plenty of couch space for friends, robes and slippers, drinks and snacks. “I want girls to feel like this is her closet,” she said, adding that customers tend to stay a while.
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A member of the British Fashion Trust, Soler wanted to highlight designers from all over the world on her racks and shelves, but they are not the names one would expect. Ryan is an Alexander McQueen alum, Carlos Pineda is a Mexican eveningwear designer known for joyous ruffled pieces, and Piferi is a line of vegan shoes by former Jimmy Choo designer Alfredo Piferi.
“Eighty-five percent of what’s in here can’t be found anyplace else in the U.S.,” said Soler, adding that she wants to respect designers as creators, and not “screw them over” with markdowns. “If you want to return it in 45 days, don’t shop here,” she said of her seasonless buy.
Soler’s taste runs from bohemian to Western, rocker to resort-chic, but above all it’s very L.A.
She stocks designers from all over the world, selling boho suede jackets with hand-painted flowers, reworked cowboy boots and whipstitched handbags made from Louis Vuitton and Gucci logo leather scraps, breezy embroidered caftans by from Ukraine by Yuliya Magdych, hand-assembled repurposed clothing by Colombia-based Claudia Gontovnik, and L.A. label Aquarius Cocktail’s vintage T-shirts, sweatshirts and flannels with positive messages such as “Be the Light.”
“Part of the criteria is your line better be good but so should you,” she laughed, of curating designers.
Apparel and accessories prices are $38 to $2,500. There are also giftable style books, greeting cards and novelties, including fashion designer pillows in the likenesses of Donatella Versace and Karl Lagerfeld, and a jewelry gum ball machine.
For Soler, with the strains the pandemic has put on retail, the future of shopping is about experience, uniqueness, sustainability — and fun. “Because what is luxury?” she said. “Is it a logo, or is it something nobody else has?”
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