Caruso Affiliated, owner of The Grove and The Americana at Brand retail and lifestyle centers in Los Angeles, has named multimedia reporter, book author and brand consultant Melissa Magsaysay contributing editor and lifestyle expert. Magsaysay will select and create content across fashion, beauty and dining categories for both properties’ online and social media channels through weekly posts, panel discussions and on-air television segments. She also will identify key trends to bring tenants — which include Barneys New York, Diane von Furstenberg, Topshop and Rachel Zoe — additional exposure, and collaborate with other experts and taste-makers.
Prior to penning the best-selling book “City of Style: Exploring Los Angeles Fashion Bohemian to Rock,” Magsaysay was a staff reporter at The Los Angeles Times and Women’s Wear Daily. She currently contributes on-air segments to “Access Hollywood,” and is cofounder of lifestyle Web site The Hive.
“I started working with The Grove in 2012 when I hosted a ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ screening in park and did a book signing when I was pregnant,” said Magsaysay. That led to hosting family shopping events at Gap Kids and crewcuts by J. Crew, as well as a Barneys panel for women entrepreneurs.
“This new role is creating a more robust editorial presence around the community and the tenants, and doing events in a way that’s engaging and creative so it becomes a dynamic platform and destination for people to get more authoritative style advice,” she said.
The Grove has continued to evolve its fashion tenant mix to include niche brands such as Shinola and has tested the waters with a slew of pop-up shops for brands such as Revolve, Nicole Richie’s House of Harlow, Jessica Alba’s Honest Beauty Co. and Alexandre Birman’s Schutz.