CLUBS WIELD BRANDING IRON

...The Factory in West Hollywood formerly run as the Love Lounge and Girl Bar, has been revamped to the tune of $2 million.

The space houses two clubs, and boasts new electrical systems, lighting, bars and a sound system modeled by Britain's Martin Audio, which designed Ministry of Sound's system...

... Los Angeles nightclub impresario and former New Yorker who longs to create a club that would evoke the mood of Manhattan in the early 1980s, Sandy Sachs has had some control over the culture.  She is now overseeing the Factory, which on Dec. 7 launched its two-room club with a night of '70s-inspired disco in the front space and Latin band in the back.

New York style

The aspiration behind the Factory -- a nightclub owned in 1968 by Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Anthony Newly, Sammy Davis Jr. and others -- is "to be the next millennium what Studio 54 was to this one.

"Who doesn't know Studio 54 and who doesn't talk about it?  What other club has ever gotten that kind of press or brand recognition?" asks Sachs.  "If they weren't busted, who knows where it could have gone?"...

BEAT MASTERS SET TEMPO

..."What is going down now is a style of futuristic elegance"

That trend has been transported 7,000 miles away to Los Angeles... ...(with) new clubs such as the Factory...

"We need to find new music for the new club," says DJ Kimberly S, who has worked the turntables for 12 years and is among a coterie of deejays defining the sound at the new L.A. club the Factory.

At the Dec. 7 opening, her set was a blend of '70s disco classics and contemporary music indebted to those anthems and beats.  "We want to play happy sexy music," she says.

Finding Room at the Factory

Along with Ultra Suede, the two-in-one dance spot makes better use of space.

By HEIDI SIEGMUND CUDA
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The Factory/Ultra Suede nightclub, the new 15,000-square-foot venue at the old Love Lounge/Axis site, represents good, smart business. Owners Sandy Sachs and Nate Goller teamed up to renovate the two-in­one dance-music space, and their concept is so tight, I can only imagine tong-term success.

Dancing in Hallways, Bathrooms, at the Bar

On a recent Friday, while the deejays offered a spectacular remix of Marc Anthony's "I Need to Know," women of all shapes -- and I mean, all shapes -- were dancing everywhere: in the bathrooms, at the bar, in the hallways, up the stairs. Darn cool. The guests seemed empowered by having such a high. The music, supplied primarily by deejays Dawna Montell and Kimberly S., thumps loud and clear, and go-gal dancers (one who's a dead ringer for the fly girl-era Jennifer Lopez) strut their ample stuff.

Meanwhile, at Ultra Suede -- the adjacent, smaller club -- a new pro-motion titled "Super;" run by the folks behind Beige (the successful Tuesday-night club at 360 in Hollywood), was offering a house full of house music.

Cherry used to be in the same space but moved its Friday-night dance fare to the Playroom, a better fit for that colorful crew. Factory/Ultra Suede designer Bruce Liebert went straight down the middle for a more stark, high-tech look. It has the feel of a New York discotheque and seems to suit the sterility of electronic music.

But for what they're going for, that's not such a bad thing. The fact that the newly configured place can hold 1,000 people has translated into "premiere" cash, as well. Since its December opening the place has had the premiere party for "Titus," another party for the Woody Harrelson­Antonio Banderas boxing movie. "Play It to the Bone," and tonight they're hosting a shindig for "Scream 3."

BE THERE

The Factory/Ultra Suede. For Factory, enter at 652 La Peer Ave.; to access Ultra Suede, 661 N. Robertson Blvd., (on Saturdays, enter from La Peer Avenue), West Hollywood. 21 and older. Cover varies. (310) 659-4551.