Fashion store made famous in Clueless and Beverly Hills: 90210 shuts every location – leaving celebs such as Rihanna devastated

Iconic California fashion retailer Fred Segal has closed its two remaining stores in Los Angeles.

Founded in 1961, the store has become a fixture in the city’s fashion world and a symbol of LA’s laid-back style.

The store was a favorite of celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Rihanna and Paris Hilton and even became a pop culture reference in films like Legally Blonde and the TV series Beverly Hills: 90210 and Dawson’s Creek.

In the 1995 cult film Clueless, Cher, played by Alicia Silverstone, asks her housekeeper to help her find her “white collarless shirt by Fred Segal” because it is her “most capable outfit.”

The company, which once had nine locations in California, closed its remaining stores in West Hollywood and Malibu this week.

The store was founded in 1961 and has become a fixture in the Los Angeles fashion scene (Pictured: Inside a Santa Monica store in 2008)

Owner Jeff Lotman, who bought the company in 2019, said Fred Segal was unable to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on sales.

Before the pandemic hit, the company had deals in the works to open stores in Canada, Dubai and Japan, he said. The Los Angeles Times.

Lotman, CEO of brand licensing company Global Icons, hoped to open 20 new stores in cities across the U.S.

“The company has been around for 60 years and it’s a shame that it’s finally closing down,” said Lotman.

According to him, one of the biggest problems was that Fred Segal did not have enough products of its own and was too dependent on hundreds of outside brands.

“That’s really what we had to develop to make this thing work,” he told the outlet. “Retail is hard and being a multi-brand retailer is even harder.”

While all fashion stores and online retailers are closed, a Fred Segal home furnishings store remains open in Culver City.

The Segal family owns the Fred Segal trademark, so any decision about opening more stores in the future is up to them, Lotman said.

Larry Russ, the family’s attorney, said this isn’t the end for the brand, but he couldn’t share further information with the LA Times.

“We are looking for a new operator who can open more stores in the future,” he said.

Lotman told DailyMail.com: ‘The shift to online shopping, economic uncertainties and lower footfall have made it difficult to keep physical stores open.

‘Hopefully someone will pick it up again and sell it. It really is one of the best fashion brands out there.’

In the 1995 cult film Clueless, Alicia Silverstone’s Cher asks her housekeeper to help her find her “white collarless shirt by Fred Segal”

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky pictured outside the store in West Hollywood in 2022

The store was a favorite among Hollywood celebrities (pictured: Florence Pugh in January 2024 and Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers in 2022)

The store was a celebrity favorite and a symbol of California cool (pictured: Pete Davidson and Machine Gun Kelly shopping in May)

This comes as retailers across the country grapple with a hangover from the pandemic and the pressure of higher operating costs.

Retailers of all sizes are closing their doors, with even big names being forced to close their stores.

For example, major department store Macy’s announced earlier this year that it would close a third of its stores by 2026, including 50 this year alone.

Experts say the stratospheric rise of online rivals and the decline of America’s suburbs and inner cities contributed to the company’s decline.

Others blame a disappearing middle class, a failed digital transformation or an inability to appeal to a younger generation of consumers.

Fellow department stores Neiman Marcus and JCPenney have both filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and Sears now has only a dozen stores in the country – after opening more than 4,000 stores in 2012.