20 Great Gifts for Angelenos (aka the Coolest People on the Planet)
People who live in SoCal have distinct preferences when it comes to food, fashion, art and yes, pet fitness trackers. See our list of excellent gifts for Angelenos, edited largely from local makers.
1. Plants Zine
Give this delightful little booklet created by the Los Angeles Times to a friend, along with one of the easy-to-grow examples recommended inside.
2. Bike Bag
Made in Los Angeles, this colorful under-seat carryall is padded for insulation and made of easy-to-wipe-down vinyl. Pop it on and off with adjustable Velcro straps.
3. Whistle Pet Tracker
Angelenos are obsessed with pets and fitness. Bring the two together with the Whistle tracking system which connects to an app and monitors pet activity, location, eating habits and even an uptick in scratching.
4. Fannypack
Los Angeles-based designer Clare V. really gets Angeleno style—we like a bit of sophistication, but it has better be rendered with DGAF casual cool. Like this wear-everywhere super-sized belt bag in perforated leather.
5. Weighted Blanket
Instead of telling your bestie that she looks tired, why not give her 20 pounds of chic weighted blanket that’s been hand-crocheted in East Los Angeles for her to fall asleep under?
6. Velvet Flats
These velvet-and-leather Mary Janes are made by artisans in Los Angeles for the brand Doen. Wear them with the label's signature floaty dresses or jeans or shorts, because whoever thinks we're going to just roll right back into platforms/heels after COVID-19 quarantine is dreaming.
7. Street Muralist Print
Street muralist Eric Junker's broad-stroked, topical art dots the City of Angeles, bringing color and energy to walls, storefronts and for lucky patrons who get one of his prints before they sell out, homes. His "Wash Your Hands" print is available in English, Spanish and French, and it's guaranteed to cheer up any powder room.
8. Artisanal Aperitifs
The after-dinner digestifs made by Lo-Fi Aperitifs start with a California wine base and are then fortified with grape spirits, concentrate and cane sugar. We like them added to sparkling water on a hot day or even poured into a beer or our favorite dry wine.
9. Masked Santa Ornament
Get a handful of these to send to that relative out of state as a passive-aggressive way to make sure they are A-OK with science.
10. Mediation Cushion
The 6-inch height gives this cushion the right elevation to keep your legs from being too squished, and the buckwheat and millet hulls inside are firm without making your rear end ache. Plus, this L.A.-made cushion comes in tasteful solids and prints.
11. Bath Salts
The Downtown Women’s Center has been giving homeless women and formerly homeless women training and jobs since the 70s. Support their important work by gifting your bestie (or yourself) these eucalyptus-rich soaking salts that will calm the mind and ease anxiety.
12. Fragrant Hand Sanitizer
So maybe you know someone who's more soulful than Purell. Gift them one of three scents—balancing cedar, uplifting rose or calming tuberose—handcrafted with essential oils and 70 percent alcohol, right in Laurel Canyon.
13. Wine Carrier
Angelenos love their picnics year-round. Gift this hand-tooled cross-body wine carrier designed in Los Angeles by fashion insider favorite Agnes Badoo, and you'll always be mobile with your chardonnay.
14. Kobe Bryant Tribute Book
Los Angeles experienced a sharp loss this year with the passing of Kobe Bryant. This book captures every success of the Lakers shooting guard tallied from 1996 onward in newspaper reprints. And you can get the book custom-embossed with the recipient's name on the cover in gold.
15. Ice Cream Fragrance
Imaginary Authors is a designer fragrance maker in Venice that creates fragrances with a story behind them, all packaged in little hollowed-out books. Their latest is the unisex Whiff of Waffle Cone, which was inspired by a visit to foodie ice cream maker Salt & Straw.
16. CBD Pain Salve
We Angelenos know that CBD is the secret sauce to making everything better, and we're here for this relief salve from Foria made with 100 percent organically-grown kava kava, ginger, St John’s wort, eucalyptus and full-spectrum extract from organically-grown hemp in a coconut base. It's made to soothe everything from sore muscles to menstrual cramps.
17. Chrissy Teigen Jam Set
We love you Chrissy. And we're so psyched you collaborated with local purveyor Flamingo Estate to make these condiments, giving 100 percent of the proceeds to Baby2Baby, an organization bringing essential goods to children in need. Also, jam flavors including white peach, lemongrass and Thai chili? Yes, yes and yes.
18. Packable Fedora
Los Angeles hat designer Janessa Leone is the go-to for the brimmed wool numbers that all the cool girls wear. The brand has a bunch made in packable wool, which will be handy once that post-lockdown travel surge happens.
19. New Harvest EVOO
Based in Joshua Tree, Wonder Valley is known for its lovely way with oils—face oils, body oils and for a limited time, a green olive oil that's made of manzanilla, ascolano, arbequina and franoio olive varietals.
20. Designer Scrunchies
Guess what's back, accessory-wise? Yes, scrunchies, which like sweats have been prettified. We like the set of three from L.A.-based designer Natalie Martin, from the same pure silk she uses in her highly coveted dresses.