Elyse Walker’s Business Survived the Pandemic. Then the LA Fires Destroyed Her Flagship Store

In 1999, Elyse Walker opened her first luxury apparel store in a tree-lined, gorgeous enclave of Los Angeles: the Pacific Palisades. The location was by design; she wanted to be close to her son’s school so she could help with carpool and be a hands-on room mom. The Palisades weren’t just where Walker worked; the neighborhood was where she built a name for herself, raised her family, and became one of fashion’s most powerful retailers.

That’s still the case.

But on Tuesday, January 7, Walker watched in horror as her store—long considered her flagship location—burned to the ground in the Palisades fire. Her other store, the nearby Towne by Elyse Walker, survived as part of the still-standing Palisades Village outdoor shopping market, but continues to be closed.

“Every time I take a step back and think about what just happened, not just to my store, [but] to my street, my town, my kids’ school, my friends who’ve lost their home of 40 years…it’s truly unfathomable,” Walker tells Glamour. “When you live here, it’s a whole different thing [from what you see on the news].”

While Walker didn’t lose her actual home, her store was—in so many words—her home. It was a home that welcomed VIFFs (that’s Very Important Friends and Family, since the New York native is not a fan of calling her customers “clients”) because “every person is a VIP,” she says. “We welcomed and promoted and helped get a number of other retailers into the town over 25 years ago because we saw the potential of the Palisades. So our love for the town will never change.”

While Walker is as optimistic as they come (“we will rise from the ashes,” she says), she’s also realistic. She has other stores in New York City, Calabasas, Newport Beach, and more, but knows that rebuilding the Palisades stores will take time.

“I don’t think you can rush through toxic air, or the toxicity in the ground,” she says of the ongoing cleanup. “There’s going to be a ton of construction, but there’s no doubt that the Palisades is a very special community. You can either stay home and weep, or be resilient.”

A lot of that resiliency is made easier thanks to the founder and majority owner’s support team, starting with the people who have been by her side for years. “I have people on the Palisades team that have been with me 22 years,” Walker says. “Sonia in my stockroom, 18 years. Jen, 12 years. Molly, 10 years. Aja, 10 years. Summer, 10 years. Courtney, etc.”