Shopping & Beauty Faces: Mickey Sills

What do you get when you cross a free-spirited surfer with an impassioned artist and a devilish imagination? You get Mickey Sills, the creative force behind the highly-coveted Scanty loungewear. What began in 2004 as a line of pajamas and intimates has become a clever fusion of sleepwear that goes out and streetwear that goes to bed. Sills’ cheeky, playful, hippy-inspired creations are provocative in every sense of the word and that’s just the way he likes it. —Andrea Adleman

You’re always on the lookout for things that spark an emotional reaction. You’ve said you want your designs to make people think, smile or laugh. Where do you go for inspiration?

I go to neighborhoods where there’s creativity and a lot of little holes in the wall to discover. I also hit the flea markets. My favorite is Long Beach at Veteran’s Stadium. They have everything.

If you find yourself in a creative rut, where do you go to get unstuck?

I go to art galleries. I spend a lot of time on Abbott Kinney Blvd. in Venice. And I go to book stores like Hennessey + Ingalls.

Where do you shop?

I can’t tell you. Those are my secrets. OK, my favorite place to shop is ... the Scanty store! No, really, I’m a compulsive shopper. I shop for anything: books, furniture, knick-knacks, gadgets. One of my favorite stores is Freecity Supershop. I love it. I own everything in there.

You’re into Harley-Davidsons. Where did you buy your first chopper?

I got it at Bartels in Marina Del Rey. It was a 1991 Heritage Softail. We called it the “pistachio princess” because it was seafoam green. Every old lady would pull me over and say, “that’s so cute.”

When you need to grab a quick lunch near your office, where do you go?

I like the Comfort Cafe at Fred Segal. It’s great for people-watching. I order the chicken quesadilla and sit outside.

What about when you need a sugar fix?

I get a molasses cookie from Marmalade Cafe on Montana. I also go to the one in Malibu when I’m up there.

Then what?

We’d have dinner at Cafe Angelino. I like it because you can sit outside with your dog and have a great meal. I order pasta with marinara sauce and a Margherita pizza. The bowtie pasta with shitake mushrooms is also good. And they have the best sparkling water.

The workday is over and you’ve gathered your party crew for a night on the town. Where’s your first stop?

We’d go to a tequila bar called El Carmen. I drink this really smooth tequila called Corralejo. It comes in tall red and blue bottles.

After you’ve eaten, it must be party time. Where do you cut loose?

We’d go to a place called Jumbo’s Clown Room in Thai Town. It’s a funky burlesque club where they don’t get totally naked. It’s a really fun place to hang. We might go to the karaoke bar next door, too.