La Ligne, Malin+Goetz celebrate their ‘High Notes’ collaboration with a high-profile pot party
It was a high time at the No Name restaurant on Fairfax Avenue Thursday night, complete with cups full of THC-infused Chex-style trail mix on the bar, Beboe’s slim, gold vaporizers tucked into wine glasses at each place setting and herbaceous candles emblazoned with the word “cannabis†flickering like freshly lighted joints across the moss-covered dinner tables.
The event was ostensibly to celebrate the “High Notes†collaboration that packages a Malin+Goetz Cannabis candle and a La Ligne ringer tee with the words “Sticky Icky†embroidered in green over the left breast. But because that had actually rolled out to retail back on the 4/20 weed holiday, the evening appeared to be as much about the two New York-based brands celebrating California’s new legal weed scene as the limited-edition joint effort itself.
“I actually think it’s weird that this kind of thing isn’t happening more — that people aren’t having dinners that are centered around smoking weed,†La Ligne co-founder Molly Howard said at the May 10 dinner. “Why is it normal that you have a bar at your fashion party but you don’t have weed?â€
Howard, formerly head of business development for Rag & Bone, launched the luxury line-laden and stripe-splashed women’s label with Vogue alumnae Meredith Melling and Valerie Macaulay just two years ago, but the seeds of the cannabis-themed collaboration were actually planted back in college — the University of Pennsylvania, to be precise — when she first crossed paths with Rachel Lavipour, who currently serves as the director of business development for the Malin+Goetz skincare brand. (Did they get high together back in those Ivy League days? “Yes — more or less,†Lavipour said.)
Why is it normal that you have a bar at your fashion party but you don’t have weed?
— Molly Howard, co-founder of La Ligne
“I reached out to Molly because I saw what she was doing with La Ligne and I thought it was pretty sick,†Lavipour said. “They had these beautiful designs, [and] everyone was talking about them. And I saw so much synergy with Malin+Goetz [because the line] was so clean and minimalist and cool. So I reached out to them, literally a year ago, and said, ‘Do you guys want to collaborate?’â€
Howard pointed to Cannabis Candle (it achieves its earthy-meets-patchouli-by-way-of-citrus scent wholly using non-weed ingredients), which has been in the Malin+Goetz mix for about a decade. “We liked the fact that they were talking about cannabis — and had that candle — a long time ago before it was really trendy,†she said. “So I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to come together and celebrate that.â€
Howard wasn’t alone in that assessment, judging by the high-profile guests from L.A.’s fashion flock — and beyond — who turned out for the barn-burner of a Thursday evening. Spotted among the well-heeled were jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer, Haney designer Mary Alice Haney, the Elder Statesman’s Greg Chait, stylist Jessica de Ruiter, designer Jenni Kayne and Beboe brand co-founder Clement Kwan. Other bold-faced names who turned out to show their stripes included Jason Sudeikis, Michelle Monaghan and sisters Erin and Sara Foster.
Malin+Goetz X La Ligne High Notes T-shirt and candle collaboration ($190), available at www.malinandgoetz.com.
For more musings on cannabis culture and commerce, follow me at @ARTschorn.
