G Whiz

Kirk Baird

Friday, Aug. 27, 2004 | 3:50 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

August 28 - 29, 2004

When Meital Grantz first moved to Las Vegas from New York City, she had an idea for a business: a boutique that married the sunny colors and feminine look of the West Coast with the conservative edge of the East Coast.

Three years later Grantz's idea has turned into a thriving business: Talulah G.

Specializing in basic wear (T-shirts, sweats), denim and collections (high-priced, sophisticated clothing such as slacks and jackets and button-down shirts and evening wear), Talulah G attracts the likes of Naomi Campbell, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Kylie Min-ogue, Chloe Sevigny and Anna Kournikova.

Grantz (whose first name is pronounced MAY-tall) is even expanding her business beyond the two Las Vegas locations -- at Fashion Show mall and Boca Park in Summerlin -- this fall to a third store in Newport Beach, Calif.

The Las Vegas Sun recently talked with Grantz, 30 and seven months pregnant, about her love of fashion, the upcoming MAGIC (Men's Apparel Guild in California) show in Las Vegas, which begins Monday, spring fashion trends for women and how many pairs of shoes she owns:

Las Vegas Sun: You graduated from Boston University in 1996 with a degree in business and hotel management. So how did you end up owning and running clothing boutiques?

Meital Grantz: I always loved fashion, but I never worked in a fashion capacity professionally. I was just a huge, ridiculous shopper. (Laughs)

I guess it's always been a dream of mine to have my own little store. And I just never quite knew how it would or when it would happen. And when I moved to Las Vegas that seemed very clear to me that that's what I needed to do because there was so much missing from the shopping here. I decided to open up a little tiny store carrying select items and in the last three years it's just grown into two and it's going to be three stores in November, we're opening a third store in Newport Beach. It's been pretty amazing -- a store per year.

Sun: You mentioned that much was missing from Las Vegas stores. Such as?

MG: A lot of designers that I would find in New York that I couldn't shop for here. There was no boutique shopping. There was no specialty-store shopping. There was Neiman Marcus and Saks and that's about it. There weren't places to find great shoes. There weren't places to find the hottest new jeans. There weren't places to find basic, great-fitting T-shirts. There wasn't a store that was really promoting young designers that were coming on to the scene.

Department stores buy more conservatively and they buy for the mass market. They don't cater, really, to the specific needs of individuals because they have to buy on such a large scale. I just saw it as an opportunity to fill a need and develop a specialty and create a niche here.

Sun: It was your love of shopping, then, that helped educate you on fashion?

MG: It's more than just loving to shop. I love products. I love the art that goes into a dress or a great handbag. I always have. I don't think a woman should have one handbag or just one a pair of shoes. There are different shoes for different parts of the day.

Sun: So how many handbags and shoes do you have?

MG: Wow, I've never counted. A lot.

Sun: A hundred? More than a hundred?

MG: No. I probably have 40 handbags. Yeah, about 40 handbags. And shoes -- my husband is going to love this one -- probably close to 80 pairs. I have a really hard time letting go of shoes and I have a really hard time not buying a new pair of shoes once a month at least.

There are certain shoes that go with certain things, but I try and buy shoes that will enhance whatever I'm wearing. Because I'm not a very flashy dresser in my clothing, I kind of stick to black and denim and that kind of thing, and then I'll have the great handbag or pair of shoes.

Sun: What's the origin of the name Talulah G?

MG: Talulah is a nickname that some friends of mine used to call me in high school and G is for my married name, Grantz. My husband is a partner in the business ... a silent partner. (Laughs) I try to keep him as silent as possible.

Sun: It seems that Vegas is becoming more of an epicenter of fashion.

MG: It is. When I first moved here it was more about the trend and what was hot in L.A. And now it's escalating to that level of real fashion sophistication where the women that lived here or have moved here in the last 10 years really want quality, they really want cleaner looks. It's not about the trashy looks that most people associate with Vegas. It's about high fashion.

Sun: A specialty of Talulah G stores is T-shirts, which are a bit pricier than most stores. Why would you need to spend more than $10-$15 on a T-shirt?

MG: It's all about the fit and the fabric and how it feels on your skin. There's a washing process that goes into manufacturing high-end T-shirts. If you've ever shopped for a vintage T-shirt, you know it has a certain softness to it because it's been washed so many times. So a lot of designers and manufacturers are trying to get that look and feel. So they combine that feel with a sexy fit. And it's hard to find both. A T-shirt can be anywhere from $41 to $110 depending on the designer and what kind of embellishments it's got on it and what kind of stitching and what kind of detail.

It makes a difference. You look at how a woman carries herself. Just wearing the right T-shirt will show off her curves, versus wearing just a basic, boxy T-shirt that doesn't flatter her at all.

Sun: Will you be attending MAGIC?

MG: It's always about denim at MAGIC. I go to MAGIC simply because it's in Las Vegas and it's a huge trade show, so I make the most of it because I live here. But it's not really where I do most of my buying.

It's a great, amazing trade show. Any brand that has been making money and has been keeping up its cache is at MAGIC. Any huge brand that sells to all the major department stores all over the world is at MAGIC. It's just that they're not lines that I usually buy for the store, except for some of the denim lines that they show.

Sun: What are some of the hot women's fashion trends for spring?

MG: I think there'll be a lot of prints. And I think there'll be a lot of feminine looks for spring, floral prints. New denim, more denim. I think it'll be about platform shoes. I think it was all about the stiletto heel and now it's coming back to the platform.

It's going to be a lot about great swimwear. There's a lot of emerging swimwear lines coming out. And I think there'll be a lot of the prairie skirts -- knee length and ankle length. Kind of like the farm look. Hot farm chick.

Sun: What about men?

MG: You know what, I'm not an expert on men. We're just not developing into the men's retail yet.

Sun: Is that something you're considering?

MG: No, not right now. It's not my passion. I can't claim that I really know that much about it. And I just don't have the time. I think it's every woman's responsibility to dress her own man. I don't want to be responsible for other men, just my own. (Laughs)

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