On Friday night, a who's who of the local scene headed downtown to the historic Orpheum Theatre for the second annual L.A. Fashion Awards. Co-host Lauren Holly wore a vintage Chanel haute couture L.B.D. adorned with Chanel jewelry and a crystal double-C belt that I helped her pick out. Also clad in black, Michelle Trachtenberg presented Monique Lhuillier with the Wells Fargo Century Fashion Achievement Award. Oscar-nominated costume designer, stylist, and local fashion supporter Arianne Phillips accepted the Fashion Communication Award via a recorded message from the Santa Fe set of 3:10 to Yuma, a Western flick starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Collection Bebe won the Marketing Excellence Award for its Mischa Barton glossy campaign over main contender L.A. Eyeworks. Rozae Nichols took home the award for design after showing a capsule runway collection alongside those of fellow nominees Juan Carlos Obando and Society for Rational Dress. And I didn't go home empty-handed, either. Decades and Decadestwo won the Fashion Retailer Award. But I made Decadestwo co-owner Christos Garkinos schlep the heavy, yet beautiful, Caleb Siemon handcrafted glass award to the after-party.
The stars were out in force at Kevan Hall's glamorous end-of-L.A.-fashion-week show—and not only in the front row. The designer described his collection as "inspired by constellations, beautiful colors, and a midnight sky." Ageless Grammy winner Jody Watley—who told me, "I've been practicing for the runway in front of the mirror since I was four"—made her catwalk debut dripping in half a million dollars' worth of Martin Katz diamonds and singing a pared-down rendition of Aquarius. Then the best-looking models of the week strutted their stuff in what Hall does best: gorgeous evening ensembles, from white blouses paired with silver sequin pants to a wonderful silk jersey off-the-shoulder gown in butter. Enjoying it all were Oscar nominees and Hall devotees Angela Bassett and Virginia Madsen, as well as a Gucci-clad Joely Fisher, who said, "Kevin designs for a woman with a bod…like me." A go-to man for red-carpet dressing, Hall's strongest looks were a sunset-colored ruched bustier gown and a navy pleated strapless concoction in taffeta that was surely designed for an awards show.
Before the Bebe show, I spent some time with the line's talented designer, David Cardona, who gave me the 411 on his inspirations: "Dior's New Look with cinched waists and Frank Gehry angles." Having decided that "the details popped more on a blank canvas," he showed a strong series of black and white cocktail-length dresses with D-ring straps that Vogue's West Coast Fashion Editor Lawren Howell called "sexy and refined." The final look was a dramatic French organza maxi trench with a long train that billowed down the runway. Paula Bradley and Matt Goldman, stylists for Kelis, the Pussycat Dolls, and more, did a great job of making Cardona's vision look modern with sporty satin visors and wide, gold-trimmed belts that are sure to be a hit. But surprisingly, this highlight of L.A. fashion week was low on star wattage, with only the label's current spokesmodel, Mischa Barton, on hand, sporting new bangs and wearing black and white Collection Bebe, of course.
Forget the William Rast show. The coolest kids in town, including starlet models Alison Lohman and Jena Malone, showed up at Jesse Kamm's poolside party-cum-presentation at the Avalon Hotel Tuesday night. In the crowd was Liz Goldwyn, who said she loved the young designer's "really easy, breezy, hostess-style" dresses. The gorgeous Kamm told me her natural-fabric pieces were inspired by an extended holiday in Panama—hence the Panama hats on all the girls. I think she summed up L.A. fashion best when she said, "It's hard to design winter when you live here." With temperatures reaching into the 80's today, it's a good thing we're looking at summer clothes.
Some of the coolest events during L.A. fashion week occur far away from the tents, which means my environmentally friendly Prius is taking me all around town. Miracle Mile boutique Des Kohan is home to an über-cool collection of international brands, as well as local faves like Jasmin Shokrian and Pegah Anvarian. But last night, owner Desiree Kohan focused on her own collection, a line of cocktail and evening dresses in a palette of yellow and cream that she described to me as "feminine, simple, and modern." One hammered silk gown with a thirties-style halter had a wonderfully unexpected back in contrasting gray fabric. Magda Berliner and BCBG's Lubov Azria came out to support this talented designer, who whipped up great clothing and a nice feast for her famished guests, too.
Back at the tents, Jennifer Nicholson did away with goody bags and left a bonafide goody on each seat in the form of a lollipop. I spotted Lisa Edelstein and Charlize Theron's stylist Lisa Michelle Boyd in the crowd, and I was happy to see perennially chic Tracee Ross supporting one of our local designers, too. A slew of peach-colored dresses including a strapless satin mini with gathered details were right on target, but the fetish latex stockings and challenging platforms made the models strut like mountain climbers.
It's easier to get backstage at the shows than to get to your actual seat, since overzealous security guards are a bit unfamiliar with the fashion crowd. Hanging out with Frankie B.'s Daniella Clarke, I got a peek at her latest collection, which is less rock 'n' roll and more sophisticated than her previous efforts—no butt cleavage! In the front row, Garcelle Beauvais and Samaire Armstrong seemed to enjoy the high-waisted sparkly denim jeans and, in what's becoming a recurring theme at L.A. fashion week, floral baby-doll dresses, one with an unexpected zebra-stripe bow in the back. I liked the elegant gold Lurex pinstripe denim. Clarke invited several cancer survivors to walk the runway. They all wore customized pink T-shirts with the slogan, "No 2 Genes Are Alike." But the feel-good vibes didn't last long. Upon exiting, we were asked to open our gift bags for security, since one unfortunate guest had had her purse stolen.
Is there anything left to do with denim? Morphine Generation's Erik Hart and his stylist, the well-loved fashion writer and A+R store owner Rose Apodaca, think so. Hart, whose other gig is front man of the band Suicide Club, took the blue out of blue jeans and showed wheat-colored denim that was a hit with an audience that included local designers Henry Duarte and Nony Tochterman of Petro Zillia. Other cool looks: a raw-edged hooded cape with asymmetric buttons, groovy silk-screened tees, and well-tailored trench coats. The toile-motif silk scarves in the swag bags had The New York Times' Elizabeth Stewart collecting extras. She told me she intended to turn a few of them into a dress, but when we parted she only had enough "to make a mini."
Corey Lynn Calter's Pretty Baby-inspired show of doily-knit sweaters with a Victorian edge and printed looks like charming floral baby-doll dresses attracted a bevy of sweet young things, including just-turned-21 Michelle Trachtenberg, Lost's Maggie Grace, and Taryn Manning. Zooey Deschanel missed the runway show, but she did get to check out the collection up close backstage. Shiva Rose McDermott, meanwhile, told me she wasn't sticking around for other shows, as she had an early call to tape CSI: Miami.
Louis Verdad showed in the main tent and attracted a large audience of local fashion editors, stylists, and celebrities. Verdad has always favored a forties silhouette, but this time around, he had a veritable time line of shapes among his 55 looks—from fifties full skirts to an eighties one-shoulder pouf prom dress in a thin gold Lurex knit. The designer took his bow with actress-cum-catwalker Izabella Miko to applause from a crowd that included Monet Mazur, whose tall, slim figure can make any design look like a million dollars. She was accompanied by costume designer Sophie Carbonell, who was representing the sixties in a vintage Celia Birtwell-print Ossie Clark.
Why a Japanese premium denim line was showing in Culver City was a bit of a mystery to many in the audience. But since denim is religion to Angelenos, there really was no better place than L.A. fashion week to spread the good word about Evisu's anniversary edition of 1,000 pairs of luxury jeans made in conjunction with Adriano Goldschmied. With Taiko drummers sounding the call, the models sported variations on Evisu's slouchy selvage denim with signature painted-seagull logo pockets, including a clever design that featured a cropped jacket with back and arms detailed to look as if the wearer were sporting a pair of jeans around her shoulders.
Mercedes Benz Fashion Week got off to a decidedly un-L.A. start with the latest installment of Dressed to Kilt, a tribute to Scottish fashion. The pageant—judged in part by Patricia Arquette, in a gray plaid bustier gown, and her authentically garbed husband, Thomas Jane—sometimes seemed more Chippendales than couture. To wit, retail maven and enthusiastic judge Shauna Stein had a stack of Benjamins that she enjoyed placing in the waistbands of hunky models from the Scottish rugby team. Less hunky but no less watchable were the celeb catwalkers Chris Kattan, Terminator star Linda Hamilton, and ice-skating princess Tara Lipinski. Revelers included Eva Chow, in dramatic yellow plaid; Dame Vivienne Westwood, with equally dramatic diamond-stud earrings; and a five-months-pregnant Mary Alice Haney, who in lieu of Highland revelry opted for a black Balenciaga baby doll that gave new meaning to maternity chic.
Forget the Plan de Paris, those pocket-size books that map each arrondisement in detail. To negotiate the busy schedule and the crowded streets, American editors have relied on a new map this season, the one that's free at every Starbucks, and highlights the coffee chain's locations throughout the city.
The song of the season? Peter, Bjorn, and John's addictively upbeat "Young Folks." Karl Lagerfeld, whose two-CD set Les Musiques Que J'aime was just released in Europe, played it at Chanel today. And it lifted moods at Pringle in Milan and Zac Posen in New York, as well.
Camilla Al Fayed on her big sister Jasmine's new collection: "I'm her number one fan. And I'm so glad she did short dresses, which I love." Jasmine on their father Mohamed's jacket and high-neck evening vest: "We think he looks like Steven Seagal."
From Who's On Next winner to runway star? Courtney Crawford, whom Karl Lagerfeld met last week in Milan at a party for Condé Nast's Chuck Townsend, walked in today's Chanel show, where Katie Holmes and Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham numbered among the celeb guests. "I want to be a star as a designer," said Crawford, when asked about his future as a catwalker. "However, I am open to exclusive bookings with Mr. Lagerfeld and his brands."
Have people finally had it with front-row celebrities and the inevitable delays and other hassles they cause? One designer, whose show is among the most coveted and hard-to-come-by invites of the week, is considering declining a request for tickets from fashion week's most omnipresent (and, thanks to her bulked-up bodyguards, most exasperating) celeb, Janet Jackson.
Joni Mitchell still keeps rock-star hours, it seems. We hear that Mario Sorrenti is shooting the folk diva for an upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, and that she refuses to be photographed at any time except between the hours of 10 p.m. and one o'clock in the morning.
How was Valentino celebrating just a few hours after his show today? Not with a big lunch, or even with a disco nap—the designer will host a dinner-and-dancing party this evening—but by visiting his old pal, Bruce Hoeksema, at the Westminster, where the VBH designer is showing off his new range of bags. "I love the pochette with the handles," said Val.
After the first ten models at the Karl Lagerfeld show slipped on a runway as slick as their patent leather platforms, the last one falling (a runway trend), Vanity Fair's Elizabeth Saltzman Walker intervened. Grabbing a tissue from her Chanel bag, she gave the catwalk a quick swipe. It didn't really solve the problem, but it must be nice for the girls to know that someone's got their backs.
Luxury and parsimony work hand in hand at Balenciaga. Demonstrating a dislike for overblown hoopla—and an eye to budget—they use their showroom for their presentations, build no catwalk, and simply print out invites on stock A4. It's become the unpretentious—though, given how few they ask to attend, ultraexclusive—style of the house. You can take a thing too far, though, and yesterday the cool charm of the cost-consciousness evaporated as the jam-packed space hit sweltering temperatures in an extended wait. Hiring air-con would be a justifiably courteous expense for the next show.
We interrupt our Paris broadcast to check in with one of New York's most popular designers, Isabel Toledo. Anne Klein is relaunching a high-end collection under the creative direction of the Cuba-born Toledo, who last year—together with her husband, illustrator Ruben—was honored with a Cooper Hewitt Design Award. How does she feel about her new Seventh Avenue gig? "For me, American fashion has always been about invention and freedom of expression," she says. "Anne Klein really represents all that… her approach to fashion was a breath of fresh, clean air; she was a no-nonsense kind of woman, and that's how I like to dress on an everyday basis."
Arrivals at Martin Margiela's show lined up to have their hands stamped, thinking some sort of gig-style pass was being issued. Not quite. The ink read, "Shiseido." Looking down, one editor cried, "Oh! I've been branded!"
Take that, all those who bewail the beyond-bonkers unwearability of London's Gareth Pugh. He has found, it was confirmed today, a business-brained Parisian backer. She is Michele Lamy, Rick Owens' consort and éminence noire, who, for all her gold teeth and tattoos, has an excellent track record in translating the apparently scary designs of tall, pale young men into commercial sellers. Pugh wafted into the front row at Owens' show last night, and said, "I came over a month ago, and Michele picked out all the best bits I've done for the past four seasons. She's taken all of my homemade efforts and is making them in cashmere, leather, and mink. Major stuff." Added Lamy, "He asked to work for us when we began at Revillon. I heard his little voice on the phone, and Rick said, 'He'll probably be a fat little English boy.'" Turned out they liked his long-streak-of-nothing look in the flesh—and the checkerboard-and-inflatable collections he's been doing since. Sales start this week.
First celebrity sighting of Paris fashion week: Lenny Kravitz and his daughter Zoe at Christophe Decarnin's Balmain show. What brings the duo—both in black patent shoes, Zoe's by Chloé—to Paris? "We're here enjoying life," said dad. "I loved all the baby-dolls," chimed in his budding-actress offspring.
