Profile: Sen Ono
Born in 1974. Works as an editor for a Japanese women's fashion magazine. Ono's interests lie in art, theater, movies and culture.

Hi, TW readers! My name is Sen Ono, and I write articles about movies and performing arts for Tokyo Wrestling from time to time. While chief editor Yuki was visiting Europe, I took my own trip -- to LA! Here I'll be posting my report on Los Angeles's gay district of West Hollywood.

Let's start with a little background about the connection between The L Word and one of LA's most popular retail stores, Fred Segal.

Fred Segal first opened in West Hollywood in 1958, selling fashionable denim and casual sportswear. Under retail pioneer Fred Segal's intuitive and bold direction, the store grew to become wildly successful, and is credited with inspiring the creation of the fashion jeans industry. Today, the store is considered the best retailer on the West Coast for the latest designs and trendiest fashions, with trend-setters and celebrities from around the world flocking to shop there. The main store is located on Melrose Avenue, surrounded by a cozy complex of other stylish shops, and a second Segal store can be found in Santa Monica.

●Ron Herman at Fred Segal
8100 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046
www.ronherman.com

One thing that makes Fred Segal stand out from other retail stores is the incredible variety. The department store offers apparel for women, men and children, as well as shoes, bags, jewelry, underwear, cosmetics...and there's even a café!

Fred Segal is a fashion Mecca and one of Los Angeles's landmark stores, which is why we find it popping up in The L Word from time to time. Take for example Episode 11 of Season 3: while at Dana's summer camp for the private memorial, Alice reminisces about her second meeting with Dana that took place in the parking lot of Fred Segal. In another episode, while having lunch with her mother, Alice tells Dana, "Fred Segal Café is the biggest lesbian hangout in West Hollywood."

Eager to see what all the fuss was about, I headed to the Melrose store straight away -- starting with the parking lot and café! The café's outdoor patio faces out onto the expansive parking lot. Among the various customers were hip girls, a mod boy with a dog, a mother with her small child, and a family that appeared to be visiting for the first time. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly seem like the "biggest lesbian hangout", at least when I went, but I did hear from plenty of local dykes about how much they love Fred Segal. And I did notice a cute girl working at the café as she was bringing over water for a customer's dog -- how sweet!

●The L Word Season 3　DVD Collector's Box Set
On sale now
6 disc set ￥9,800(w/tax ￥10,290)
●The L Word Season 4
Available for rental from November 5, 2008

●Broadcast (Japan): FOX Life HD
www.foxlife.jp

Translated by Kumiko Matsumoto