Matrushka Construction, originally founded by Laura Howe and Beth Ann Whittaker in February of 2003, is an independent clothing boutique located in the heart of Silver Lake California. In 2007 Laura Howe became sole owner and moved the Matrushka storefront to the Sunset Junction, opening its doors to the local artistic buzz. Driven with inspiration from the utility of the Russian Constructivist, she has interwoven her passion for art, social activism, and environmental awareness into all facets of the business. Matrushka offers each client a personal, authentic, and alternative shopping experience. Each unique piece is designed, hand-sewn, and silkscreened locally by the matrushka team, with prices set purposefully for everyone to enjoy.

   As a functional retail store, Matrushka aims to offer each customer a tailored experience, while exuding our local support and global awareness. We carry a variety of designs that cover the base of sensibilities of our eclectic clientele. Whether it is funky or conservative, punk or demure, Matrushka represents elements of each of these styles, often combining elements to create quirky, one of a kind pieces. Alterations are provided in store, and custom orders and screen prints are taken daily to maximize the potential of our designs for each individual's size and taste. After all, "Size Is Relative".

   All of our clothes are constructed from "left-over", remnant bolts of fabrics, meticulously and locally sourced each week by Laura Howe. The term "remnant" does not in anyway devalue the fabric, it merely suggests pieces that are unusable by larger, and corporately run factories, due to a larger production quota. Thus, the variety of prints found along side our classic colors(also remnants) are in constant flux, adding to our exciting and everchanging interior color palet. Each product is cut and sewn at our nearby design studio, and is brought into the store on a daily basis.

   Matrushka is not merely a retail boutique. It is also a medium for celebrating art, spreading awareness, and supporting the local community with rotating art shows, participatory events, and performance based projects. All of these elements add to the in-store alternative experience. In addition to being an artist herself, owner Laura Howe is an active board member of the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council, where she aims to, and affects the sustainability of the local environment. As a half-marathon runner, she has first hand experience of the invaluable nature of urban parks, using its access as a training ground to then support the various causes involved in each race. The store is a source for information as well as a catalyst for change.