Eveline Morel is the owner of EM & Co, and she absolutely loves anything that has to do with fashion and creativity. She hosts local art openings and local fashion shows and supports local talent in whatever they do. She spreads the news. Morel has always lived with fashion, fabrics, and fibers. She learned to knit when she was eight. Her grandmother was a dressmaker and pattern maker who taught dressmaking at one of the local schools.
“I pretty much just grew up under the table playing with the scraps of fabric.” -Eveline Morel
Eveline was born in Romania and lived there for the first eight years of her life. She learned her first sewing terms in Romanian. She knitted her first scarf when she was eight, and in high school she knitted her own sweaters and made her own skirts. Deciding she didn’t want to be a starving artist, Eveline went to school and got her MBA; but even in business school, Eveline’s nickname was Miss Fashion. In the
80s, she would take a business suit and make it stylish and fashionable. After learning the ins and outs of business, which involved learning how to run a business, working with creative people, putting events together, etc., she started making clothes for herself, and people started asking her where she got her clothes and could she make clothes for them. She decided to take those pieces to a store. They sold and she realized that she could design for a living. Eveline’s experience went from working in showrooms, to buying outfits, to working with designers. She realized that she needed to launch a collection.
How did you move into owning a boutique?
It was a fluke, essentially. I ended up becoming a partner of a boutique not too far from here. That was my first experience. I realized how important it was to have that direct contact with your customers. With boutiques, it’s about the space and how it inspires people. That includes lighting and everything else. That just grew on me. I felt right at home. Then I decided to open my own store and really have the vibe that I wanted and make sure I had enough space to host artists. And that’s kind of how it all started.
What are some of the exciting things you’re doing now?
This is the seventh season that we are hosting a fashion show. We do it every LA Fashion Week. The name that stuck is “Up Next – Emerging LA Designers.” They are always LA designers because it’s important to really support local talent. And there is a lot of talent in LA. We feature anywhere between three to five designers. When we see a designer that has that je ne sais quoi , we love spreading the word! And we’ve gotten pretty good at spreading the word. People are listening to us. We have over 4,000 people on our mailing list alone. So every time we send out something, more and more people get to hear about it.
What are some of the other things you host?
Every month we host local art openings. We feature designers, everything from photographers, to installation, to painters and artists. That’s something we’ve done
for the last three years. In between that we also work with our customers and make them look fabulous.
What’s special about EM & Co as a boutique?
It’s really about the mix. It’s a mix of local and global designers, one-of-a-kind pieces, and pieces that are handpicked. We don’t just go into a store and get the top selling items and just buy those. We look at what’s going to fit the customers . . . what’s going to look good . . . what’s interesting. That’s how we approach things. It’s about the service, too. We make sure that people feel comfortable, that the store feels inviting, that you feel at home here. We always have a bottle of champagne in the fridge, and we keep it fun.
I attended a few events at your boutique . . . a Vivienne Westwood trunk show, which I really enjoyed . . . they’ve been pretty exciting with DJs and celebrities. Where do you see EM & Co in five years?
We always joke about it—and maybe there’s a little bit of truth in that—world domination! (Eveline laughs.) Actually, in the short term, we’re launching our online 
boutique. And eventually we are going to have stores in other locations. We’re probably going to have some pop-up stores in the US and a few locations around the world. But we’re always going to keep the same values and to keep what drives us, which is “think global and act local.”
Is that your logo?
Yes, it’s pretty much our mantra. Think global, find the best designers from all around the world, bring them under one roof, but at the same time always support the local talent: musicians, artists, designers. It’s important to do that. I know because having been a designer myself, I think it’s not just important to look outside, but to always make sure that you’re taking care of what’s in your backyard.
You’re unique as a boutique owner. I hate to even call you that because you’re so much more. You’re an entrepreneur and a businesswoman, you have the experience as a designer, and you know what goes into creating a piece and the work that goes into creating a collection. You’re able to run a successful boutique in a time when our economy is so unstable. What is it about you that makes you able to do all of this and keep it thriving?
It’s the passion for beauty and the passion for working for people. It makes me happy, literally brings me to tears just to hear a customer say they got so many compliments from [something they purchased here]. We’re touching someone’s life in a way. It’s not just selling goods and making the money, but it’s really about
touching someone’s life. Clothing is a necessity, but it’s also something that inspires. It’s art. A lot of it is also just focus and looking at what is important—at the end of the day, what is it that we have achieved. Where do we want to go and how do we get there. I’m a pretty focused person.
Highest High
When I went to the Yelp page and read the reviews. All of a sudden reading what people were saying about their experience at the store, I nearly cried. Here’s someone writing a page on her experience and how positive it was. So that’s when I realized that we were making a difference and people are actually hearing some feedback. Of course we have a lot of fun, so everyday pretty much, there’s always a high or a good thing happening . . . pretty much everyday.
Lowest Low
There hasn’t been a time I can say. It’s just part of doing business. You’ll always have some times that aren’t exactly what you expected, but that’s all just a part of owning a business. When things happen, I ask, “What can I learn from this?” I see
them as lessons or temporary setbacks to maybe alter the course. So far I don’t really have a low, and I hope I never do.
What advice would you give to somebody who wants to own a boutique?
It’s all about the mix and that it’s serious business. Ultimately you have to be able to approach it as a business and give it the necessary structure and business approach. At the same time, everything has to work together, the product and your knowledge of the customer.
EM & Co is located at 7940 W. 3 rd Street, Los Angeles, CA. Visit their online boutique at www.emandco.com.
