GQ's editors first anointed Abbot Kinney the "coolest block in America" in its April 2012 style guide, and since then the title has been broken in like a pair of GANT Rugger's signature washed down denim. The 20th annual Venice Garden & Home Tour in May featured 30 homes within blocks of "the coolest street in Los Angeles," and in November's issue of Los Angeles magazine, a guide to the top 10 places to eat and shop on "The New Abbot Kinney" notes the quaint boulevard once typified by "Where art meets crime" T-shirts is now the pinnacle of Bohemian chic: "If Venice's founding father, utopian developer Abbot Kinney, were parking his gondola today, he'd have to valet it."
This Saturday, November 16, GQ and sponsors including Swatch, AG and Herradura Tequila will take over the much buzzed about boulevard to offer a sampling of its fine apparel and food that commanded the national spotlight at discounted prices with special in-store offers. Politics of popularity aside, if 50 new and seasoned Abbot Kinney shops, salons and restaurants are participating in the event, with The Brig serving as GQHQ (headquarters), to bring more business into their doors, then we're cool with that.
See the map above for participating retailers, restaurants and more, or visit GQ on Abbot Kinney 2013.