Late on a midweek morning , Tiffany & Co. hums with Rodeo Drive consumers, a delectable incongruity of the blue-blazer and bared-navel brigades, the coifed and the careless, the blossoming and the doddering, the bejeweled and the unadorned, the local and the exotic.
They take no notice of a distinctly noticeable man -- dapper, courtly, commanding in stature -- who goes from display to display removing and returning fine porcelain and weighty silver as he delivers his private tutorial, in the manner of a benevolent English don, on Tiffany design.
In large measure, John Loring is the reason these customers come here in droves, although they probably don't know it -- even if they're purchasing one of his own designs like his instantly recognizable Swing clock or a piece of his Roman-numeral "Atlas" jewelry, a Tiffany signature.
Loring is also the tastemaker -- a description he would be loath to bestow on himself -- whose discerning eye and business acumen have propelled the company's sales from $70 million to more than $2 billion since he took over 25 years ago. A former painter and printmaker, Loring applies his artistic sensibility to making decisions about what does or does not get the Tiffany seal of approval. Regarding those decisions he is quick, sure and -- the numbers would suggest -- unerring.
The elegance of simplicity, high quality and great craft are the principles from which he has "never moved a micron" in designing objects, redesigning classic ones, working with other designers such as Elsa Peretti and Paloma Picasso. The gloppily ornamental, the show-offy, the unimaginatively derivative -- not for Loring.
He has come to Los Angeles from his home base in New York for a schedule-clogged three days of back-to-back events. There are lectures on style to give to the Fashion Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the California Club. There's a signing of his two latest books: "Tiffany Timepieces" and "Greetings From Andy [Warhol]: Christmas at Tiffany's," featuring drawings and paintings the Pop artist created that were produced as Christmas cards. And there will be a charity fundraiser to co-host with Priscilla Presley; a cocktail party for a book of celebrity photos, for which he wrote the introduction; and meetings with staff and magazine stylists.
At 64, Loring is preternaturally energetic, like a college boy on spring break.
