LAFW: This Week's Bright Spots
It’s been a couple of seasons now since IMG and Mercedes Benz pulled the plug on L.A. Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City. Looking back on the event need not require a heavy dose of nostalgia, however: For every worthwhile show (Suh-Tahn, Kevan Hall), there was also plenty of Ed Hardy and labels inspired by The Girls Next Door. Fall 2010 promises a few interesting events for LAFW — some invite-only, some open to the public. Here’s our first round of selects:
Gen Art Alumni Celebration
The New York-based arts and entertainment organization Gen Art has always done a bang-up job of augmenting L.A.'s Fashion Weeks with rotating runway shows and presentations highlighting emerging fashion talent in L.A. Endovanera, Grey Ant and Katy Rodriguez are among the now-entrenched brands that have walked Gen Art's "Fresh Faces in Fashion" show (reliably one of the best presentations each spring).
This season, the organization is hosting an "Alumni Celebration" party to kick off Fashion Week, featuring 20 L.A.-based alumni of the Gen Art program. Each designer will present a single model wearing a look from their Fall 2010 collections in a "presentation format."As of press time, the list includes Eduardo Lucero, Elmer Ave, Endovanera, Erik Hart, Grey Ant, Jared Gold, Jeffrey Sebelia, Jovovich-Hawke, Katy Rodriguez, Louis Verdad, Rami Kashou and Society for Rational Dress—representing, by far, the most impressive collection of L.A. designers this season.
Tuesday, March 16, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Tropicana bar at the Roosevelt Hotel. This event is open to the public. For tickets, visit GenArt.org.
Shipley & Halmos Presentation at Confederacy
After a few seasons showing in New York (fall 2009 included a looping runway presentation with models traversing a Manhattan studio on striped white lines), Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos return to their Southern California roots to show their fall collection in L.A. as well—this time around at Confederacy, Ilaria Urbinati and Danny Masterson’s Los Feliz boutique. The two designers were co-founders of Trovata, which received CFDA/Vogue’s “Yes, you are worthy” Fashion Fund award for emerging designers several years ago. Shipley and Halmos later launched their own line, now a Barneys Co-Op staple.
Thursday, March 18, time TBA. Confederacy, 4661 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Feliz. shopconfederacy.com
What Goes Around Comes Around: First Anniversary Party
Vintage is a crowded field in Los Angeles—if you’re going to open a store here, you better know what you’re doing. What Goes Around Comes Around, which launched its second store at Space 15 Twenty last year (the original store is in SoHo), is a worthy addition to the field. Co-owners Seth Weisser and Gerard Maione have also launched a ready-to-wear collection of the same name that shares rack space with vintage YSL and Yamamoto. Space 15 Twenty events in Hollywood are usually good times, so we’ll be more than happy to share a little birthday cake for this exceptional boutique.
Thursday, March 18, 7pm-9pm, 1520 Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood. RSVP to Grace Hwang, ghwang@thinkpublicrelations.com.