By Lookout Staff

May 21, 2010 --Santa Monica Place owner Macerich on Thursday announced 10 more names for the roster of the redesigned mall that is scheduled to reopen on Aug. 6. Nearly 60 retailers and restaurants have been announced for the three-level, open-air mall that will be anchored by Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom.

The newly announced tenants are Ever, which sells clothing for travelling; Kenneth Cole, known for men’s and women’s clothing, shoes and accessories; Italian eatery Ugo Café; Charlotte Russe, a fashion retailer for young women; teen clothing and accessories store Hot Topic; shoe stores Skechers and Bertini; Gallini, which sells men’s clothing and furnishings and Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt.

The new Disney Store was also named as a tenant, although that announcement already came last week from Disney. The new concept will include interactive features, such as an in-store theater. Santa Monica Place will be one of 20 sites in North America and Europe featuring these stores.

"Retailers are extremely enthusiastic about Santa Monica Place and the vibrant community of people who live, work and visit here,” said Anne Singleton, vice president of leasing for Macerich. "We are especially pleased with the list of local, national and regional names being announced today that continue to reflect the interesting, balanced retail mix we are creating for this property.”

Also announced this week by Macerich is a new mannequin design program at Santa Monica Place. Up to 100 local designers, artists, retailers and community leaders will turn blank full-size mannequins into “individual expressions of art and fashion.” These mannequins will be part of a three-week exhibit at the mall.

“Exciting fashion is a major element of the experience at the new Santa Monica Place, and the Mannequin Collective invites our community to express individual concepts of art and fashion in at least 100 different ways,” said Doug Roscoe, senior manager of property management for Santa Monica Place. “This program offers a tremendous canvas for creativity and will launch Santa Monica Place in great style, reflecting the particular interests and sensibilities of the Westside.”

Mannequins that are part of The Mannequin Collective exhibit will not look the way shoppers see them in stores, Macerich officials said. They will be designed through the use of “artistic” materials such as paint, beads, clay, papier-mâché, metal, wire, mosaic glass, ceramic tiles, shoes, eyeglasses, sea glass, leather, jewels, fabric, hardware, stones, plaster, recycled objects and other items.

The top five mannequins selected by a jury of local artists and community leaders will be displayed at the Otis College of Art and Design’s main campus in Westchester as well as at the fashion design location in Downtown Los Angeles. Santa Monica Place will donate $10,000 to support scholarships at Otis in the name of the contest winner.

“Fostering artistic expression is important to our community and to Otis,” said Samuel Hoi, president of Otis College of Art and Design. “And The Mannequin Collective is an exciting way to link a new fashion destination with the city’s robust art and design world.”