THE ANGELS — For four days, Hollywood, California, was teeming with crowds lining up to see the various Los Angeles Fashion Week shows put on by a new owner at a new location.
Lines stretched across the sidewalk on Sunset Boulevard outside the Lighthouse ArtSpace, where an immersive art show featuring works by Vincent Van Gogh and a King Tut show had been held until they were temporarily suspended for the fashion event.
A few blocks away, talks and panel discussions were hosted at the historic Citizen News building, which houses event spaces and the new, hip Mother Wolf restaurant.
Everyone was holding their breath to see how a reconfigured Los Angeles Fashion Week, now under the ownership of N4XT Experiences, would turn out for its October 6-9 run. By most accounts, it was a success.
Attendees were particularly enthralled with the new venue which had a large, cavernous room where images could be projected on the wall depicting starry nights or fireworks marking the end of a show.
Models walked across the concrete floor lined with long white benches where fashionistas browsed creations from brands including AnOnlyChild, Gypsy Sport, Attachments, Revice Denim and Sami Miro Vintage.
On average, shows started 35-45 minutes late with a certain amount of chaos in the air as fashionistas wondered when they would be seated. Show organizers said the late start times were due to a larger-than-expected crowd showing up.
One attendee, who asked not to be identified, believed the shows weren’t as organized as previous Los Angeles Fashion Weeks, but liked the new location. She thought the new owners were doing well considering this was her first event. “I put it down to being new,” she said.
Many fashionistas were pleased with the Hollywood location and the variety of events organized around Los Angeles Fashion Week.
Those events included a host of panels, fireside chats and masterclasses on various fashion and beauty-related topics, including how digital closets foster sustainability and a panel on the future of beauty.
Danielle Lauder, great-granddaughter of Estée Lauder and beauty consultant for N4XT Experiences, moderated a “Live Art Meets Luxury” talk with Donald Robertson, an artist who is also Senior Vice President and Creative Director of Estée Lauder Cos. inc.
Robertson drew faded images of models on a large canvas while answering questions from Lauder about his artistic process and how to be a creative disruptor.
Donald Robertson explains his creative process to Danielle Lauder and the audience.
She recalled that while working with the cosmetics line Smashbox, she marketed the brand by having the company buy a huge white Cadillac convertible from the 1960s. She painted red lipstick all over it and parked it near the Art Basel fair in Miami Beach, Florida, to generate excitement and attention for the cosmetics company, which is now a subsidiary of Estée Lauder.
“Miley Cyrus climbed on top and then she ended up in People magazine,” Robertson recalled. “I love those things.”
It was those experiences that pleased fashion show attendees like Amanda Stinson. “I liked this fashion week better than the one in April,” she said. “Before, there wasn’t much to do, but the panels were thought-provoking.”
The shows also included various communities. Rio Uribe, the designer and founder of Gypsy Sport, created an avant-garde, genre-bending show featuring male models in dresses, zaftig female models in skimpy dresses, and Zoot-like creations that reminded the Los Angeles-based designer of his Latin roots.
“Our goal is to celebrate community. In Los Angeles, there’s so much of the Latino and queer community, and I just wanted to give them a chance,” said the designer, who moved his company to Los Angeles from New York in 2019 and has walked at New York Fashion Week and showed the last year during Los Angeles Fashion Week held at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
Her collection featured plenty of sequins seen on minidresses and miniskirts with matching skimpy tops. Plaid was also a popular fabric used in lace-trimmed dresses and billowing, pleated skirts. Lingerie-look spaghetti strap dresses were also popular.
A look from the Gypsy Sport spring 2023 collection.
Uribe said this Los Angeles Fashion Week felt different than the others. He said there were more rumors about it. “Maybe it’s the location, but I felt like more people were talking about it,” he said.
She was shocked when she was standing in line at the Koreatown post office in Los Angeles and overheard someone talking about the show and asking about buying tickets. “I thought, oh my God, that’s amazing,” she said.
Los Angeles Fashion Week was also the event where Moss Adams LLP chose to present its annual MAFI Award to an outstanding Los Angeles designer who epitomizes innovation. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the award had been on hiatus since 2019.
The award was given to Revice Denim for its sustainability efforts using organic, recycled and dead cotton fabrics, its commitment to diversity in the workplace and home production done primarily in downtown Los Angeles. “They produce beautiful classic and iconic pieces, use sustainable fabrics and have a strong commitment to a diverse workforce, which checked all the boxes for us,” said Martin Hughes, national practice leader for apparel at Moss Adams, a global apparel firm. consulting and accounting. .
Revice Denim showcased their spring 2023 collection using vintage looks seen throughout the years.
Shai Sudry, the founder of Revice Denim, said her company draws inspiration from Los Angeles. His spring 2023 collection focused on Hollywood movies throughout the years. “The concept of the show was a Hollywood revival incorporating six different film genres,” he said.
The collection, unveiled on Saturday, spanned patchwork jumpsuits, matching sets, low-rise denim silhouettes, baggie jeans, mini shorts, dresses, micro tops, and vegan leather pants and tops.
The variety of shows left fashion-goers pleased that LA Fashion Week was back on track after an intermittent period due to the pandemic. “I felt like these were real shows,” said Mitch Ramey, who attended the Gypsy Sport show. “I hope they do something about it.”
Source: news.google.com