 In 1912, Oviatt and a colleague, hat salesman Frank Baird Alexander, launched their partnership in men's clothing as the "Alexander & Oviatt" haberdashery, at 209 West Fourth Street in downtown Los Angeles.Their 'silent partner' was Frank Shaver Allen, a wealthy and once socially prominent architect whose career had been destroyed by a sex scandal several years earlier.During annual summer buying trips to Europe, Oviatt found stylish clothing to bring back to his prospering Los Angeles store.