About

Pamela Barish is an American independent fashion designer based in Los Angeles, California. She is the founder of her eponymous brand known for its timeless, ageless elegance. Her current collections draw inspiration from the rural elegance of Barish’s studio in Malibu.

PERSONAL LIFE

Pamela Barish is a second generation Californian - born and raised in Los Angeles.

Pamela’s mother Georgie Ann Barish was a former I. Magnin model. Her father Fed Barish was a WWII fighter pilot. Barish has three siblings Brett, Rise, and Geoffrey Barish.

As a child she would hurry home after school to sit at her easel and paint “women sitting in chairs, wearing beautiful dresses, with wild wallpaper behind them... One of Barish’s most vivid memories is of borrowing (her mother’s) leopard-print cashmere sweater for her Halloween costume the year she decided to trick or treat as a beatnik.” (WWD) She was ten years old when she made her first garment. 

After high school, she studied photography for two years at San Francisco Art Institute, and then began pursuing a career in fashion.

She lived in Europe for a few years in her twenties and returned to the states living in New York City with husband Walter Becker of Steely Dan. Her marriage to Becker ended in 1984.

In 1987, Pamela Barish had her son, Jacob Barish Faulkner. Jake is the bass player for the roots rock band The Americans.

She has been with longtime partner and artist Laddie John Dill, famous for his work in the light and space movement. Pamela is the stepmother to Dill’s children, Jackson and Ariel.

CAREER & BRAND

 “In 1973, the then 18-year-old produced a sample line of peasant-style blouses and skirts decorated with ribbons. Strolling up Rodeo Drive to peddle her wares to Right Bank Clothing Co. owner Donald Pliner, she spotted Cher on the sidewalk and approached her. ‘I asked if she wanted to see my clothes,’ Barish recounts. Acceptance was immediate. ‘Her assistant wrote me a check. Then I said, ‘Can I have it back for half an hour to show this store?’ Pliner bought the line, too, for both his Beverly Hills and New York stores.” (WWD)

In the seventies, Barish’s collections were sold at Henri Bendel “in a department called ‘Bendel’s Fancy’ right next to Chloe, Zandra Rhodes and Zoran” (WWD)

“Soon after, Barish opened a SoHo atelier where she created gender-bending clothes for Seventies rock ‘n ‘rollers like Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Peter Frampton.” (WWD) In the eighties she returned to the West Coast and worked as a stylist in the music industry. She styled artists like Ozzy Osbourne and Chris Isaak.

Barish launched her women’s line in fall 1992 selling her first collections to Barneys, Neiman Marcus, Maxfield, Susan of Burlingame, Ultimo, and I. Magnin. For years she worked out of a private studio in Venice, California. Clients like Anjelica Huston, Rosanna Arquette, Laura Dern, and Jennifer Grey (to name a few) would drop in to have their red carpet looks made and leave with an array of custom and ready to wear pieces for their lives.

She eventually decided to open a brick-and-mortar. Barish, “who was considered a pioneer on Abbot Kinney, opened her shop in 2003 and became a sought-out destination”. (LATimes) The Venice atelier marked the first high end boutique on the now wildly popular street Abbot Kinney.

In 2015 she opened a larger atelier on Main Street in Venice in order to better cater to her private clients. Shops L’Frank and Mona Moore moved along with Barish. As Architecture Digest put it “a trifecta of the city’s most fashionable women—Liseanne Frankfurt, Pamela Barish, and Lisa Bush—decided to abandon the buzzy scene on Abbot Kinney Boulevard and move their shops...The shop of couturiere Pamela Barish,whose peregrinations through the worlds of fashion, music, and art are all reflected in the beguiling frocks that have garnered her an international following of devoted fans. The mood at her shop evokes a Parisian atelier, where the surroundings are not overly precious but the quality, craftsmanship, and imagination of the creations read loud and clear.” (AD)

In March of 2020 Pamela Barish closed the shop in Venice to embrace a completely online experience.

In a 1994 article of Women’s Wear Daily Pamela described her style stating, “My clothes can be wild and untamed as well as glamorous... It depends on what shoes you wear with them — motorcycle boots or Manolo Blahnik.” She has stayed true to this sensibility throughout the years - embracing both the practicality of daily style and the celebration of high end fashion.