Trovata
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. Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos now operate the men's clothing brand Shipley & Halmos.
In 2009, Trovata 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. However, the store is now closed.
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 sent 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