We're thinking the whole tattoo art/clothing line thing may have just about run its course, but if you still find yourself hankering for some threads covered in tattoo flash art but worry about being mistaken for a "Jersey Shore" housemate, check out Horiyoshi the Third, a line of high-end men's and women's casual clothes, scarves and jewelry that's so to the market its second stateside season's just now hitting store shelves.

The namesake (and co-founder) of the line is Japanese tattoo artist Horiyoshi III, who has been inking skin in his Yokohama studio for the last 35 years, specializing in a classical Japanese woodblock print style and imagery of mythological creatures, warriors and the natural elements.

Although Horiyoshi III and co-founder Steve Suk launched the line overseas back in October 2008*, and the brand is already distributed in Japan and Europe, the collection didn't reach the tattoo-art-saturated shores of the U.S. until about six months ago -- where, it was promptly picked up by some of the highest profile boutiques around (locally that means Ron Herman at Fred Segal Center Melrose and Maxfield in West Hollywood).

We just spent some time flipping through the label's Fall/Winter 2010-2011 online look book, and the clean, monochrome depictions of masks, tentacles, bamboo and feathers on merino wool turtlenecks, T-shirts, shawls, hoodies and scarves is a welcome departure from the cacophony of clutter that defines most tattoo-inspired apparel.

What remains to be seen is now that Horiyoshi the Third has opened a beachhead in the U.S. market, will the American consumers have the intestinal fortitude to open their collective wallets for $160 tattooed T-shirts and $950 inked-up outerwear?

We're guessing that if it can happen anywhere, it'll be here in Los Angeles. So stay tuned.

-- Adam Tschorn

Photos: Pieces from the Fall/Winter 2010-2011 Horiyoshi the Third tattoo-inspired casual wear collection, the second season to be distributed in the U.S. Credit: Adam Whitehead

[*UPDATED 8/5/2010: An earlier version of this post listed the wrong year for the brand's launch.]

I admit it: At first we were totally fished in just by the clever conceit of Freeway Eyewear, a new line of sunglasses with styles named for (and ostensibly inspired by) the various freeways that crisscross Southern California.

But clever can get you only so far by itself, and by any reckoning it's a mile marker that falls far short of the shelves at the legendary Maxfield boutique. So when we heard the shop was among the handful of stockists to carry the barely 2-month-old eyewear line, it was worth a closer look.

Freeway Eyewear is the creation of Angeleno Alex Israel, a 27-year-old writer-artist who just earned his MFA degree ("As of a couple of Fridays ago," as he puts it) from USC's Roski School of Fine Arts.

Israel, who has no background in the eyewear business, explained that the idea sprung from thinking about how to take artwork out of a gallery setting. "I approached it like sculpture ... like art that literally changes the way you see."

Go ahead, roll your eyes. Sunglasses as wearable sculpture do seem a little bit hyperbolic until you hold ...

Funeral services were held Saturday at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Stockton for Elisa Rishwain, a longtime resident of Los Angeles who designed luxury shoes under the Elisa Ferare nameplate. Rishwain passed away at home in Los Angeles on April 25 at the age of 65 after a three-year-battle with cancer.

Elisa Ann Rishwain was born in Stockton on Oct. 28, 1944, the daughter of Italian immigrants Stefano and Jennie Ferrari. She graduated from Stagg High School in 1962 and married Dr. Anthony Rishwain of Stockton in 1963.

In addition to raising three children, Rishwain opened the Giovanna Ferrrari women's clothing boutique in Stockton. In 1988, after her divorce, she and her children relocated to Los Angeles, where she engaged in a range of vocations that included interior design, an antique furniture store, a clothing and jewelry boutique, and acting.

Rishwain often took her store-bought shoes to a local Los Angeles cobbler to have the silhouettes, fabrics and hardware tweaked to fit her personal taste, often using the sort of luxe fabrics and trims more common to the world of interior design.

In 2003, she parlayed this penchant for customized footwear into the Elisa Ferare line of handmade-in-America footwear that would routinely juxtapose fabrics like crushed velvet, python, suede and vintage  animal prints and go on to be carried by a range of high-end retail accounts including Maxfield, Madison and Fred Segal Santa Monica locally, Jeffrey in New York and Neiman Marcus.

Rishwain is survived by three children, Brian Rishwain, Benjamin Rishwain and Jennifer Gheur, and six grandchildren, all of Los Angeles, and a brother, Joseph Ferrari, of Stockton.

According to the family, a celebration of her life will take place in the Los Angeles area at a later date.

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: At top, an undated photo of Elisa Ann Rishwain, who in 2003 turned her penchant for customizing store-bought shoes into a line of handmade high-end high heels under the Los Angeles-based Elisa Ferare label, passed away April 25, 2010, after a three-year battle with cancer. At bottom, the Tycoon style from the fall 2009 Elisa Ferare footwear collection Credit: Rishwain family (top); Elisaferare.com (bottom)

Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir is flamboyant and proud of it. He'll never leave his home in Lyndhurst, N.J., without his turquoise Balenciaga work bag and Linda Farrow sunglasses.

No one can deny that the figure skater causes a sensation whether he hits the ice or the red carpet with his Ziggy Stardust outfits, gravity-defying pompadour and war paint. But Weir's ostrich feathers and reported diva-like behavior might overshadow his accomplishments -- Weir placed sixth overall at the Vancouver Winter Olympics -- and generated less than favorable publicity.

Weir will be the guest of honor at a cocktail fundraiser for Equality California, in support of marriage for same-sex couples, on Sunday (April 18) at the Lloyd Wright’s Sowden house in Los Feliz. 

All the Rage caught up with Weir in advance of his appearance to chat about his other passion besides figure skating: “I love style, and I love fashion.” he says. “I walk down the street in Lancaster, Pa. [his hometown], completely decked out."

You love fashion. Any prospect for Johnny "Wear” to hit the racks?

I definitely want to get a clothing line off the ground, but I need a lot of leg work. You don’t want to be somebody that has someone else make them a line of clothing and put their name on it. I want to be sewing buttons and putting fur trim on things myself.

Visnja Jewels, a New York-based fine jewelry collection designed by Australian-born Visnja Brdar, is now available on the West Coast -- at L.A.'s emporium of avant-garde fashion, Maxfield. 

The spiritual-minded collection of diamond, platinum and 18-karat white gold brooches, cuff links, pendants and earrings is "based on the power of symbolism," said Brdar. The brand's first collection, available now, uses three graphic symbols: a heart, a lion and a set of wings. The pieces are essentially line drawings of these symbols wrought in sparkling diamonds.

Brdar, who has also worked as a freelance creative director for companies including Van Cleef & Arpels, believes that, "there's a need for fresh expression in fine jewelry today, and that jewelry can be more than just decorative," she noted. "It can be infused with powerful meaning yet still be super-chic. I created the jewels because I needed the symbols for my own fortification."

The limited-edition pieces, available at Maxfield boutiques in Los Angeles and Malibu, will set you back a bit (brooches are $33,500), but will ensure that you stand out in a crowd.

-- Emili Vesilind

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Photo: Visnja "Courage" brooch. Credit: Visnja Jewels.

 I noticed a half-full parking lot and a whole lot of black and white sale tags fluttering on the racks when I stopped into Maxfield in West Hollywood on Tuesday.

Though the sales staff was short on specifically what was included or excluded from the sale (I'll bet the vintage Hermes and $17,500 taxidermied hooves aren't being discounted), the floor manager did tell me there were mark downs of 40% to 50% and that the sale would continue "for the next week or so."

A quick spin through the men's offerings (both on sale and not) uncovered a treasure trove of Rick Owens leather jackets, Lanvin and Dries Van Noten button-front wovens, reconstructed Libertine trousers and a few  blue-spray paint polka-dot pieces from the Spring/Summer 2009 Comme des Garçons Homme Plus collection. (If you'll recall, last July we told you how local artist/designer/retailer Brett Westfall had a hand in customizing some of that collection).

-- Adam Tschorn
Maxfield, 8825 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (310) 274-8800. Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mon. through Sat., noon to 5 p.m. Sun.