Design Duo Is Moving On Up to the East Side : The L.A.-based creators of JonValdi designer wear step forward into the New York fray.

Jonathan Meizler and German Valdivia have tried many routes on their path to building the JonValdi designer clothing collection. First they sold in specialty stores. Then they opened a Melrose Avenue boutique.

In their latest--and biggest--move, they are following two principles of common fashion wisdom: Establish a New York presence and sell women’s wear.

Few Los Angeles designers have been able to bridge the divide between the West and East coasts. Some, such as Richard Tyler and Mark Eisen, built their businesses in Los Angeles before heading to New York. Now Meizler and Valdivia say they are on track toward establishing themselves in New York.

“Los Angeles has given us the creative mobility to go where we wanted to go. We were able to make the mistakes here that we would not have been allowed to make in New York,” says Meizler, a former graphic artist.

Moving to New York wasn’t a must, says Valdivia, a former makeup artist and drama major. “No matter where you are, you can get recognized--if you have the right product. It just takes longer.”

Meizler and Valdivia don’t want JonValdi to be a mega-brand, however. They do want to be sold in certain stores and plan to open more of their own boutiques.

“The whole concept was to begin small and grow very slowly,” says Meizler.

Establishing a designer fashion business on the West Coast is almost a guarantee of starting small. Los Angeles, despite the size of its clothing industry, has long been considered a weak but aspiring regional rival to New York’s fashion dominance, especially at the designer clothing level.

Going to New York was “not a move for [attaining] legitimacy, but just to make business easier,” says Meizler of their 6-month-old showroom in Manhattan. “I think it’s just easier to get recognized in New York. The big manufacturing firms are here.”

Indeed, the prestigious Italian manufacturer Aeffe is virtually next door to their Manhattan showroom, which is steps from some of fashion’s most high-profile boutiques.

Meizler, 34, and Valdivia, 36, have honed their skills over the last eight years in Los Angeles. In their earliest days, Valdivia, a Cuban native who grew up in Harlem, and Meizler, a Boston native, began hand-painting silk shirts and ties on the floor of their Hollywood loft. The look was bright, graphic and distinctive. They were guided by Valdivia’s informal training from his tailor grandfather and seamstress mother.

Within a year, they launched a full menswear collection of tailored sportswear that was sold in specialty stores. In 1994’s shaky retailing climate, they retrenched and sold menswear at their new Melrose boutique. The store became a sort of fashion laboratory for custom clothing where they concentrated on understanding the cut of their clothes, their customers and their market--the adventuresome dresser.

In 1997, they entered the highly competitive women’s market. This February during Fashion Week in New York, they staged a combined men’s and women’s show in their showroom.

The show, their second in New York, was held during the same time slot for a popular new juniors’ line. And even though their sound system failed at the last minute and not all of the 50 or so chairs were filled, the duo considered the show--and their foray into the New York market--a success.

Meizler and Valdivia were able to earn later showroom visits by fashion editors and some repeat business from six stores that carry the line, including Neiman Marcus, Giorgio Beverly Hills and San Francisco’s Sarah Shaw and Wilkes Bashford. Some stores increased their order amounts significantly.

Meizler and Valdivia also were able to demonstrate the range of their design talents--for better or worse. Their years of men’s tailoring expertise and relative inexperience with women’s dressmaking was evident on the runway. The women’s wear, for example, benefited from techniques established in the men’s line: exacting tailoring in coats and jackets and subtly hand-painted fabrics.

They say they appreciate women’s wear as a creative challenge.

“Men are so much more conservative,” says Valdivia. “But as much as we enjoy doing men’s, I think the enjoyment and growth comes from doing women’s. You can do something innovative and different every season.” And there’s another cold reality: Women buy the vast majority of designer clothing.

But working in Los Angeles has other advantages.

Their professional profile expanded when they capitalized on one of L.A.’s plentiful resources--celebrities. The JonValdi label has graced movie stars’ personal and professional wardrobes. They dressed Steve Martin in “L.A. Story,” Robin Williams in “Toys” and Vanessa Williams in “Soul Food.” At the most recent Oscar ceremony, nominee Ian McKellen, star of “Gods and Monsters,” wore a JonValdi custom tuxedo.

The three years the two spent defining a look and direction is evident in the attention to details in their clothing. They hide the raw edges of seams, finish button holes by hand, and select leather skins so that no unnecessary seams interrupt a design. And their hand painting has changed from graphic bright to a watercolored softness.

Such perfection comes at a price: Dresses retail for $600 to $1,200; leather pants for $1,200; $300 for a shirt and $275 to $800 for pants. Custom tuxedos can run from $2,500 to $3,000.

“It’s all the little details that a majority of people miss,” says Meizler. “That’s where we want to make our mark. It’s a line between ready-to-wear and couture, where the finishing is just as important as the look, where it’s just as beautiful inside and out.”

Valli Herman-Cohen can be reached by e-mail at valli.herman-cohen@latimes.com.