Los Angeles, CA -- Style makers Darren Gold and Christos Garkinos opened the Los Angeles flagship of Alpha, the ultimate destination for the man who has everything, in October of 2004. Their first location at 8625 Melrose Avenue, a prime shopping area of Los Angeles adjacent to the Pacific Design Center has been a hit since the doors opened.

An all-encompassing men’s lifestyle store, Alpha highlights the best of the best; from cufflinks to leather goods, from grooming products to BBQ grills and everything in between. The well-edited selection of both whimsical and practical items with price points for every budget meets the specific male challenges of how to love, groom, learn, look, home and entertain. Alpha also offers a menu of services to its clients such as styling, home decoration, closet organization, car detailing, party planning, private wine tastings, and commissioned portraits by featured artists.

“In 2005, the growth of the menswear industry beat womens apparel growth for the first time. Men are more interested in fashion, products, and overall luxury living than ever before. Alpha is the first store of its kind to cater to this man and those who want to shop for him, bringing him a one stop consumer experience of the very best,” says co-founder Gold. Adds partner Garkinos, “Both Darren and I see an opportunity for a whole new concept in men’s lifestyle stores and look forward to continued success of our flagship and the nationwide expansion of our concept.”

In order to achieve their vision of a space that is both masculine and inviting, they have brought on recent KWID (Kelly Werstler Interior Design) graduate Sargent Pillsbury, who made his solo debut on the project. The design of the store includes vintage furniture, wood wallpapering, a faux fireplace, and a lounge area to achieve this rugged stylishness.

Alpha showcases many diverse and difficult-to-find brands such as Lambertson Truex, John Richmond, A.P.C., Paul Smith, John Bartlett, Tateossian, Adidas Y-3, Aussiebum, Nike White Label, and local designers Band of Outsiders, Cristi Conaway, and Gregory Parkinson, whose men’s offerings will be carried exclusively at Alpha.

The store has already become a press favorite and has been covered in Vanity Fair, the New York Post, Travel+Leisure, the LA Times, British GQ, Out, Departures, Nylon, Cargo, Vitals, Giant and on E! Entertainment Television as well as Telemundo.

Gold and Garkinos plan on opening other branches of Alpha in the near future and see exponential success for the rollout. Other cities in their view include San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, and New York as well as 1 or 2 more stores in the Los Angeles area.

Most recently, Gold was a co-founder of Mhope, a high-end women’s fashion line which has retailed at the likes of Fred Segal, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Takashimaya among others. Previously, Gold had been head of production at lifestyle web directory style365.com, and he also produced an independent feature film starring Lesley Ann Warren, which aired on Lifetime and is soon to be released on DVD.

Garkinos conceptualized and provided seed money for a unique retail concept which resells very high-end clothing from high profile individuals. The store, Decades Two, continues to be a runaway success. Previously, Christos was Head of Marketing for Disney Stores and Virgin Megastore, where he expanded that chain from 2 to 22 outlets. Japanese Vogue recently featured Garkinos as one of the most 15 fashionable men in the world.