Trovata is a Newport Beach,
California-based clothing company
that specializes in casual contemporary apparel. The
clothing line has gained notoriety for combining an East
Coast preppy look with a West Coast surfing appeal.
Trovata is notorious for their use of buttons and
stripes. The clothing line was started in 2002 by
college friends Jeff Halmos, John Whitledge, Sam
Shipley, and Josia Lamberto-Egan, and has won numerous
awards for their achievements in design, including the
Ecco Domani, CFDA’s Swarovski Perry Ellis for menswear
and a $200,000 grant from the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.
John Whitledge is the only one left from the original
group that started the line. In 2009, they sued the
chain Forever 21 for ripping off their ideas-the chains
sold styles nearly identical to those of the Trovata
line.
Trovata recently opened their first store on 31st Street in Newport Beach, CA.
Stories
Each season of the label's clothing is based on a fictional story that the purchaser can read through as they acquire more apparel.
- Season one: a California boy that was heavily involved in the surfing community whose parents send him to the East Coast for boarding school
- Season two ("Pompous and Penniless"): a family in Paris in 1959 in the candy business that has gone from a lavish lifestyle to poverty from ill-timed business decisions.
- Season three ("A Mountain Spelled M-U-R-D-E-R"): a murder mystery
