Fashion Island's StyleWeekOC steps off the runway and into the stores for 9th annual iteration

Personal shopper Sara Aplanalp talks about one of her favorite pants.

By Lilly NguyenStaff Writer

Sept. 11, 2020 7:17 PM PT

Fashion Island bustled on Friday, with some shoppers toting around bags from various stores, and others filtering in and out of buildings to examine merchandise in the afternoon heat.

Visitors chatted in the shade of umbrellas at tables. Restaurant waitstaff hurried from table to table, and teenagers sipped at ice coffees. Boutique staff and shoppers wore masks. Signs posted at store entrances stated that face coverings and temporary occupancy limits were required by the state.

And at the foot of 33 storefronts, a sign read “StyleWeekOC.”

In spite of its name, StyleWeekOC is a weekend-long campaign that began in 2011 at Fashion Island that, in normal circumstances, would have included the participation of models, runways, panels and social media influencers.

But as with many events during the pandemic, StyleWeekOC has had to pivot by removing its typical programming and shifting its focus.

“Getting inside, getting a feel for the brand, shopping — [shoppers] are getting exclusive offers to shop new fall collections just for the weekend, so that’s the biggest pivot, and our tagline for this year is ‘a little bit virtual, a little bit in person,’” said Sara Aplanalp, lead personal shopper for Fashion Island.

Fashion Island is hosting its annual StyleWeekOC this weekend with 33 stores participating.

Aplanalp said the shopping center launched a digital magazine Thursday and planned to have social media influencers take over the Fashion Island Instagram account. It also released “Sara’s Picks,” which refers to pieces chosen by Aplanalp throughout the shopping center’s stores, and social media videos.

“We’ve been promoting it for quite some time with all kinds of different efforts — e-blasts, social media, filling Fashion Island’s website — geared toward ‘We’re changing it up a little bit this year.’ It’s our signature event. We love it so much, but we’re doing things a little differently,” Aplanalp said.

Participating stores are offering promotions for this weekend, which vary from discounts to free tote bags or yoga mats with purchases.

Gorjana will be offering a free tote bag as a gift with every purchase, an item owner Gorjana Reidel said is practical for shoppers. The brand released new jewelry for September for shoppers to see in-store this weekend.

Reidel said “a lot of hard decisions” were made quickly to alter operations during the early months of the pandemic, when all nonessential businesses were shuttered by the state.

Personal shopper Sara Aplanalp talks about the men's Lee jacket.

Orange County has since moved up to the red tier in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s state reopening guidelines, which allow for some businesses to operate at 50% capacity.

On Friday, the Orange County Health Care Agency reported 142 new cases and 12 new deaths. The total number of cases in the county is now 50,613, and the total number of deaths is 1,081. The number who have recovered is reported to be 44,976.

The agency also reported that the seven-day average for daily case rates for every 100,000 residents is 5.2 and the seven-day average for test positivity rates is 4.2%.

“We were like, ‘OK, this is obviously unprecedented times and we’re in the middle of a pandemic,’ and there’s no certainty anymore,” Reidel said. “So, we gotta go back to the basics. What do we need to run where we think we’re going to be and, obviously, all of our stores, ... we’ve totally learned to roll with the punches.”

Chanel's Les Ombres Quadra Eyeshadow is one of Sara's Picks at the Chanel fragrance and boutique store.

“You kind of can’t get emotional. You can’t get dramatic. If there’s anything this year’s taught us, there is no guarantee. Nothing’s for sure, so it’s really how you react and adapt,” Reidel said.

Reidel said her stores are compliant with state restrictions, including limiting capacity to only three customers at a time, requiring face coverings and social distancing. Employees are also being checked for temperatures and are required to wear personal protective equipment. Surfaces are also sanitized more frequently.

“I think [StyleWeekOC’s] just reminding people to get out in whatever way that makes them comfortable, whether it’s by yourself or with one friend or a family member or whatever. Just being out, I love getting to walk around and I still get super inspired seeing fashion and accessories and all that,” Reidel said.

Shadi Ghalbi presents a knit gold evening necklace, a popular item, at the St. John store.

For Shinobi Menswear, which opened in Fashion Island in August, the hope is that participating in StyleWeekOC might attract new customers to its “dress down luxury” brand.

Brothers Asher and Aaron Goldenberg said Friday the brand came about in August 2019 when they found a pair of orange Springle MOVE sneakers in Kyoto, Japan. The idea had been to open their store in March or April, but plans had to be pushed back in light of the pandemic. They’d previously launched a pop-up shop in December 2019.

Shinobi eventually came to include high-end menswear when the brothers realized during the pop-up run that customers were hesitant to buy the shoes because they weren’t sure how to dress with them or if they it would fit their style.

“Although guys look great in suits and ties, we want to show you can look as great in dress-down clothing as you would in a suit and tie and that’s kind of our goal,” Asher Goldenberg said.

The Fashion Island store is the brand’s only location, but Aaron Goldenberg said they’d love to expand in the future.

“People like experiences. If you completely take away the experience of walking into a store and exploring something new, you’re kind of taking the humanity out of it a little bit, not to sound too dramatic,” Asher Goldenberg said. “But, that’s who we are. We like to get out.”

A pair of high top sneakers with Jormi Graterol graffiti art and sports jacket on display.

“For sure, we’re in a different world. We’re in a new world, but I don’t believe that the world of brick and mortar shopping is going to go away because people are people. We like to experience things,” he added.

Aaron Goldenberg said Shinobi Menswear sells merchandise customers need to touch and feel, and he’s excited to see new people experience their products.

“I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of new customers and I think that this is a great opportunity to get the kind of exposure that we were hoping for in a non-COVID world ... this is one of the first opportunities where people feel a great excuse to let themselves go and explore,” Aaron Goldenberg said.

Fashion Island’s StyleWeekOC will continue through Sunday.

Here are the latest cumulative coronavirus case counts and COVID-19 deaths for select cities in Orange County: