Los Angeles fashion: Ruffian shows far from its New York roots
Ruffian designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais were standing backstage in front of garment racks with the all black-and-white lineup of the spring 2015 collection they were shortly to unveil Monday evening, talking about how they ended up staging their show in Los Angeles instead of in New York as they’d done for the last eight years. Outside the Gavlak Gallery on Highland Avenue, the street was closed because of a water main break but no matter.
“We came here three months ago after our last show at Lincoln Center,” Wolk said. “Claude and I did a cross-country road trip. We arrived in L.A. and it was a love affair.”
They broke out a small portfolio that served as their portable mood board, opening up with maps and then black-and-white pictures of downtown movie houses.
“We were really inspired by this kind of visual communication in Los Angeles, the idea of billboards and marquees and that was kind of the beginning,” Wolk said. “That’s why the collection is called ‘Text Message.’ ”
That title also reflected their primary form of communication with friends back home in New York, said Morais. “We all text, ‘Where are you, when are you coming?’ ”
Turning the pages, there were some of the iconic pictures by Garry Winogrand (“He was the first street photographer, really,” Wolk noted.) that they caught at an exhibit in Washington, D.C., on their way west, followed by some ‘60s fashion snaps. Then there were some paintings composed of large graphic words.
“This is the work of Maynard Monrow, he’s a Los Angeles-born artist,” Wolk said. “He does all these great witty quips. He allowed us to do a silk digital print with his work.”
Not only did the duo design the collection here in their residency supported by the L.A. Tourism & Convention Board, but they made it locally too, sourcing the fabric from the Fabric Store and collaborating with area hat maker Montez of the Millinery Guild and eyewear purveyor Garrett Leight California Optical on accessories.
Next to them stood Hollywood stylist Elizabeth Stewart (who has worked with Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain and Sandra Bullock), who seemed to have absorbed the vibe of the collection right down to her her black-and-white spectator lace-ups.
“We’ve been so lucky. Elizabeth has been like our fashion fairy godmother,” Wolk enthused. “She’s [originally] from New York and came to L.A. and we’re from New York. We’re in the honeymoon stage.”
Stewart interjected: “Well, we’re instant best friends because that’s how it works in fashion.”
The new besties had cooked up a bit of a happening for the show. Stewart started by casting her daughter, Ivy Bragin, and some of her Crossroads high school chums as models as well as other teens around town like Emerson Tenney, Teri Hatcher’s daughter.
Out front, guests found their seats in semi-darkness, lighted by a sign in the corner that spelled out PALAYE ROYALE in light bulbs, the name of the indie rock band that was about to play. The reedy trio was off giving interviews in a corner and the room filled with celebrities including Hatcher, Jaime King and Rose McGowan and fashion crowd regulars including designer Magda Berliner, stylists Tanya Gill and Roberta Wagner and Decades owner Cameron Silver, sporting a gray fleece version of a tailcoat he said was from a designer named “Risk. Of Poland.”
With that, the lights went up and the boys began to play, loudly, and the 25 looks were trotted out in a show barely lasting the three or so minutes of the song. Little black shift dresses with white detailing were followed by a long coat with the random words “Still Life” and “Diamonds” embroidered on the front pockets. A white cape jumpsuit and a white guipure lace column looked red carpet ready, though the charming black Cole Haan penny loafers with which they were shown — a nod to the Hepburns, Katherine and Audrey, Morais said — will probably eventually be replaced by heels.
It ended so fast that everyone sat in their seats for a good minute instead of springing up as is usual after the final bow of a fashion show, even though the band’s song was over and the room was silent. Then cocktails beckoned and congratulations were exchanged. Outside, the street was dry.
