Proenza Schouler has plenty to celebrate at local parties
A deep tan and a little pug? Could that be the future of Proenza Schouler? That’s what everyone teasingly demanded to know, as Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, the dynamic duo behind the line, blew into town for a series of parties — including two on Wednesday night alone.
As if it weren’t hoopla enough to be in from New York for a trunk show and runway presentation, the news broke that day that the Valentino Fashion Group has taken a 45% stake in their company. Given the perennial tawny glow of the company’s namesake, designer Valentino Garavani, and his obsession for his pugs, well, you get the idea.
“Don’t dismiss it,” snipped Tracee Ellis Ross, with a wink. “It could be a good look!”
“We’ve been working so much we could use some sun,” Hernandez agreed. The line launched in 2002 when the guys were all of 23, and now the company boasts retail sales of clothes, shoes and other licensed products of almost $25 million. Proenza Schouler’s recent partnership with Target’s Go International program catapulted them into a household name.
Instead of sun, though, the moon lighted the private party held at the Los Feliz home of luxe accessories designer Brigette Romanek and filmmaker Mark Romanek. Orchestrated by party queen Amanda Demme, nearly 100 friends of “the boys” showed, including Mary-Kate Olsen (who got her groove on on the makeshift dance floor of a patio), Kate Bosworth, Joaquin Phoenix and Jacqui Getty. Her daughter, Gia Coppola, arrived a bit later. “I had to run home and get this on,” she said of her Proenza Schouler mini dress.
Despite the lithe young frames in his clothes, Hernandez did his best to convince Dita Von Teese (corseted, natch, in chinoiserie dress of her own design) that he and McCullough design with curves in mind.
“We make clothes for women with this and this,” he insisted, cupping his hand just short of her shapely bust and tiny waist.
Up several fights of stairs to the home’s third floor, Brigette Romanek was showing China Chow and designer Jeremy Scott a Prohibition-era feature of the house, which she and her husband moved into only nine months earlier and decorated to modern-eclectic perfection. “If the vice squad showed up at the front door, this is where the guests escaped from,” she laughed, as everyone faced down a steep black-iron stairway overlooking one of those breathtaking two-level backyards, complete with gardens and a pool.
The Proenza Schouler camp was invited to town by Nordstrom, which carries the collection in just six of its stores nationwide, including Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga. On Thursday, fans lined up there to meet the pair and shop the collection. Nordstrom also hosted a cocktail-fueled shopping party for its VIPs at the Pacific Design Center on Wednesday night, benefiting the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Women Cancer Research Institute.
The lauded fall collection was given a runway outside on the terrace, while the label’s friend, New York designer-deejay Benjamin Cho kept the rhythms constant and loud throughout the early-evening event.
“It’s so nice to be able to do this outdoors,” McCullough said.
