Yoga’s VIP Status

Fred Segal, the iconic Santa Monica, California, clothing store, has always been at the cutting edge of hip and fashionable. It was the first department store in the nation to offer a Jean Bar, back in 1960, and set the pace of celebrity-fueled trendsetting fashion that endures five decades later.

Over the years, Fred Segal morphed into a high-end fashion emporium, with multiple specialty sub-stores, a see-and-be-seen cafe, and acclaimed Oscar-aligned full service salon. And earlier this year, the salon expanded to include Fred Segal Yoga (with the logo “Meditation meets beautification”), a community gathering space for hip, yogi-minded Angelenos, with classes, events and fundraisers, and book signings. ”We’re interested in the promotion of a good life and happy souls,” says Fred Segal Salon manager Jill Vasky.

Last week, Fred Segal Yoga merged with another Los Angeles hipster spot, YogaPoser, owned by James Brown, a former DJ who has taught yoga to the Red Hot Chili Peppers among other celebs. YogaPoser @ Fred Segal will now manage and run the location’s yoga classes. In an interview with MindBodyGreen, Brown explained the merger. “Fred Segal is an uber-trendy LA institution. It’s a funny marriage for a yoga company. Funny good,” he said. “I love it because it is different and so is YogaPoser. We work hard to present yoga in a pure form without blind adherence to tradition or doctrine. In our case, we use work with the body as the platform for improving all the aspects of your life. While we honor all the other things that get mixed with yoga – from waterfalls, bamboo and flutes to religious Hindu practices, we choose to pare it down to good, simple asana practice and nothing else.”