The Crowd: Harvesters Fashion Show invites people-watching for a cause
Like most everything else, the business of fashion has been turned upside down by real-world factors, including the Internet, reality television and very different generational tastes, attitudes and values. Fashion has always been an art form of sorts, but today it is so perhaps more than ever. Some might cry foul given the preponderance of very simple and casual dressing that dominates the landscape, not only in the U.S. but worldwide.
Yet as the designers showcase their wares this season at Fashion Week New York or on the hallowed runways in Paris, Milan, London and Tokyo, the artistic — albeit not exactly wearable — palette reigns supreme. Patrons attending fashion shows are both awestruck and dumbstruck. Designers of all stripes over the last two-plus decades, since the end of the Reagan era in the U.S., have pushed the envelope to the fashionable extreme.
And while the rank-and-file citizen (female and male) are not wearing the artistic and often outrageous garments on the Paris runway, the prêt-à-porter seasonal fashions at your favorite Macy’s department store are strongly influenced by the styles that may seem out of this world and are very often influenced by the ever-present barrage of celebrities parading their publicity starving figures on so many red carpets.
Along with all of this sizzle and market push, prices have gone wild. Dressing well and owning quality garments was once attainable and affordable. Today it is a challenge.
And while the wealthy may be buying without reserve, the rest of the world is looking for bargains. Seventh Avenue is acutely aware of this economic reality. One line in one season that does not sell can send a designer into obscurity and the manufacturers to bankruptcy.
Get Ellen to wear that new boyish pantsuit on her show, a Kardashian to be photographed in that revealing black lace jumpsuit or First Lady Michelle Obama to sport the latest fitted dress off one shoulder and zipped down the back, and bingo! America goes shopping.
Again, the copy-cat phenomenon has always been part of the fashion equation for success.
Interestingly, the men and women behind the decision-making on Seventh Avenue are keenly aware of the fact that America is not the same nation coast to coast, north to south. Different regions require unique fashion. In Southern California, the L.A. market is dramatically different than the O.C. market, and different still from fashion taste in San Diego and the Inland Empire. If the cash register is going to ring, stores and Internet sites must know their customers.
In the O.C. this month, one of the most glamorous fall fashion shows catering to the well-dressed and well-heeled Orange Coast woman unfolded at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The 24th annual Harvesters Fashion Show and Charity Luncheon, benefiting the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County and produced by South Coast Plaza and its luxury retail merchants, attracted more than 400 patrons checking out the fall and winter lines designed to entice O.C. women and men to shop.
Chaired by Melissa Knode, the daylong affair was once again the talk of the town. As glamorous as the runway fashions are this season, most of the 400 women attending are even more glamorous.
The Harvesters fashion show is pure people-watching at its best. From another perspective, this social phenomenon offers a glimpse at the youthful vibrancy of one of America’s most coveted and wealthy enclaves.
Indeed, this is not representative of all. In a county of more than three million, the top echelon represents a small percentage. These are the women buying and wearing the designer threads, making South Coast Plaza the envy of retailers nationwide.
O.C. citizens have dough and they shop. Fashion is perhaps for the regular citizen — rich, poor or in between — an avenue of personal expression on any given day or evening. Yes, we are what we wear, to a certain extent. This has not changed.
Participating in the fashion presentation, which unfolded on a runway in the chic Samueli Theater at SCFTA, were many international stars of design. Brunello Cucinelli, Fendi, Lanvin, Marni, Max Mara, Moncler, Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Roberto Cavalli, Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino and Versace were among the famous lines showcased.
Joining SCP in sponsoring the massive event were Bvlgari, Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo and Union Bank.
A morning champagne reception set the mood, with lunch served in the elegant lobby of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall following the show. An after-party at the Center Club finished the day of high fashion and high living.
Joining Knode chairing the day was co-chair Susan Croul. Committee members comprised a who’s who of O.C. social standing. Lori Anderson, Susan Etchandy, Michelle Janavas, Irene Martino, Susan Lee Paek, Alex Parker, Julie Post-Guenther, Jodi Salerno, Jennifer Segerstrom and Ann Smyth were among the dedicated.
Also spotted in the elegant crowd were Cindi Morales, Lauren Wong, Elizabeth Ginger, Jamie McKinnon, Allison Olmstead and Julie Taylor. Major support came from Teddie Ray, Melinda Serra, Ginni Valley, Annette Oltmans, Yvette McCarthy, and Harvester co-founders Jill Johnson-Tucker and Jennifer Van Bergh.
Since its founding in 1992, the Harvesters have raised and donated $6 million to Second Harvest Food Bank. The O.C. may be rich, but statistics report that one in five kids living here may be going to bed hungry nightly. Second Harvest estimates that of the three million residents in the O.C., hundreds of thousands are living on the literal edge of homelessness, hunger and ruin.
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FOR THE RECORD
An earlier version of this article stated that since 1992 the Harvesters have raised and donated $1.6 million to Second Harvest Food Bank. The correct amount is $6 million.
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B.W. COOK is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
