NO RUNWAY REQUIRED
LET’S talk about fashion “presentations.” Not runway shows -- which are fast-paced affairs where you’re comfortably seated -- but the live installations where models do their best to “freeze” while we scrutinize the clothes on their backs. These model dioramas almost always come off as awkward -- like some ‘70s performance-art piece where they put people in zoos. Clothes look better in motion, but if you want a stock-still form for your garments, get a mannequin (as L.A. designer Juan Carlos Obando did last season).
That gripe aside, Gen Art’s New Garde presentations kicked off L.A. Fashion Week last weekend, and proved that amid the C-list feeding frenzy, there’s still bona fide talent. The event at the Park Plaza in Koreatown spotlighted three up-and-coming L.A. lines: Jess Kamm, a print-heavy collection that can be found at Satine in L.A. and Colette in Paris; JMary, a dressy, detail-heavy label that sells at avant-garde emporium Maxfield; and Les Sang Des Betes, Trang Chau’s well-tailored but spiritless architectural pieces.
Kamm’s line was the most promising. The collection, shown in an “Out of Africa” style set, included gorgeous silk and cotton dresses and tops, hand-printed with bird tracks and the pattern of a tortoise shell. The prints and silhouettes nodded to ‘80s Ralph Lauren, if a touch more languid.
In the big tent
At Smashbox Studios in Culver City, the week’s main event got underway without 1960s legend Paco Rabanne. His appearance as mentor to a fledgling Ukrainian designer had been hailed as a coup for organizers. The official reason for his no-show: “a family emergency” -- though sources close to Rabanne said a dust-up between the designer and the Puig family that controls his name kept him in Paris.
But at this stage in the game, we’ve come to expect the unexpected. At Kelly Nishimoto’s Imasu show, rocker and reality star Gene Simmons got teary after seeing his daughter Sophie Tweed-Simmons strut down the runway. On the runway, the confused styling -- disco-pink sequin dress topped with a velvet coat in court-jester colors -- obscured any charm the pieces could have had.
Erica Christensen, Bijou Phillips and Jenna Elfman came out in team colors for the Whitley Kros show, wearing clothes by the designers, Sophia Coloma and Marissa Ribisi (Giovanni Ribisi’s sister). Kirstie Alley cheered her 13-year-old daughter, Lillie Parker, who walked the runway; Jason Lee chased after his gleeful toddler, Pilot Inspektor.
Whitley Kros, a quintessentially California brand, hit with ‘80s-inspired T-shirts emblazoned with neon pink and green graphics, colorful jeans, elongated cashmere cardigans and strapless frocks and shirtdresses in a bold print resembling a patchwork quilt. But a black pantsuit looked as if it could have been from Banana Republic, and a series of wool gray-and-black plaid pieces, including a mini-dress and a jumpsuit, were dowdy and lifeless.
The downtown line Orthodox debuted a small women’s collection that echoed the dark moodiness of the line’s established guy’s gear. Women’s jeans and tweedy pants were slim and tapered at the ankles, Carnaby-style (an unforgiving cut for most); snug leather bomber jackets were everyday go-to pieces.
But the real strength is still men’s, including a cool Members Only-biker jacket hybrid and slouchy suits cut wide in the shoulders and narrowing at the ankles, a la David Bowie. “There’s definitely some jackets in there I would wear,” said actor Taye Diggs, seated a few seats away from Andre Leon Talley. The Vogue editor-at-large was attending L.A. Fashion Week “as an exploratory event.”
Aren’t we all.
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