The Fake Fendi Apartment Building from “Sex and the City”

My favorite moment from the two Sex and the City episodes that took place in Los Angeles (Season 3’s “Escape from New York” and “Sex and Another City”) was when Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) attempted to buy fake designer purses at a seedy apartment building somewhere in the Valley.  I, of course, was pretty intent on tracking down said apartment building and while I spent quite a bit of time trying to do so a few years back, I came up empty-handed.  Then, a  couple of weeks ago, after finding Lorenzo Lamas’ house from the “Sex and Another City” episode (which I blogged about here), I became inspired to have another go at it and, lo and behold, pinpointed the place!

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In “Sex and Another City,” Samantha purchases a fake Fendi bag while visiting L.A. with the girls.  When Carrie sees the faux purse, she flips over it (and its $150-price tag) and Samantha tells here, “We could go get more.  I got the guy’s card.  He lives somewhere called ‘the Valley.’”  (Samantha says the words “the Valley” with a romantic undertone, so its obvious she was never an avid 90210 watcher. )  The two then take a two-hour drive to the guy’s apartment building, which supposedly has an address number of 45386.

Only the backyard and rear portion of the apartment building were shown in the episode, which, coupled with the fact that I assumed the place actually was located “deep in the Valley,” made it rather difficult to find.

While re-watching the scene a couple of weeks ago, I was shocked to spot the unique building visible in the background behind Carrie and Samantha.  Somehow, I had failed to notice it during all of my previous viewings.  As it turns out, the building is one I am quite familiar with and have visited frequently over the years.

The building pictured in the background of the scene is located right across the street from Warner Bros. Studios and is known as Warner Bros. Studio Plaza or Building 160.  It is the spot where guests check in for the Warner Bros. VIP Tour, which I have taken more times than I can count.  How I never spotted the building on my earlier viewings of the fake Fendi scene is beyond me!

Especially considering that I knew from one of those tours that the scene in which Carrie met with Matthew McConaughey (who played himself) in the “Escape from New York” episode was filmed INSIDE OF a Warner Bros. Studio Plaza office.  Duh!

Not to mention that a few other scenes from the two episodes were filmed at Warner Bros., including the scene in which Carrie attempted to smoke on a backlot stoop (which I wrote about for Los Angeles magazine here) and the two scenes in which Carrie drove to the studio for meetings about turning her column into a TV show (which were shot across the street from Building 160, in front of Gate 5).

In real life, the building is not seedy at all, nor is it located in a shady area.

While I really wanted to walk into the backyard to catch a glimpse of where filming had taken place, I somehow managed to restrain myself.

I was thrilled to see, though, that the size and positioning of the building’s windows, the base of the exterior stairwell and the three gray poles to the side of it all matched up to what appeared onscreen.

The spot where the dogs were caged up in the scene is denoted with a pink arrow in the photograph below.

For more stalking fun, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Los Angeles magazine online.  And you can check out my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: The fake Fendi apartment building from the “Sex and Another City” episode of Sex and the City is located at 141 South Avon Street in Burbank.