Zoe Saldana to host Gen Art’s return to L.A. Fashion Week

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Gen Art, the emerging-talent incubator and one-time key player in local efforts to craft a cohesive fashion week calendar that halted operations 17 months ago has announced an ambitious return to the L.A. runway circuit.

Hosted by actress Zoe Saldana, Gen Art’s once-familiar Fresh Faces in Fashion show is scheduled to close out Style Fashion Week L.A.’s sophomore run at the former Cathedral of St. Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 22.

The announced lineup includes women’s wear designers 71 Stanton, Dear Creatures, Funktional, Odylyne* and Stand and Deliver, swimwear line We Are Handsome and menswear label Chambers. As is Gen Art’s traditional format, the event will also include an installation featuring accessory labels, including Iman Toloui, Plomo, Sticks & Stones and TomTom.

Unlike most fashion week events, which are open only to buyers, media and invited guests, the general public can attend -- for a price. Tickets to Fresh Faces in Fashion, which cost from $60 to $85, can be purchased through the group’s website.

Gen Art, which also focuses on supporting emerging talent in the art, music and film worlds, reemerged on the fashion scene last month with an East Coast edition of its Fresh Faces show during New York Fashion Week. The group, founded in 1994 and which counted designers Eduardo Lucero, Rami Kashou, Louis Verdad and Katy Rodriguez among its alumni, suddenly halted operations in May 2010 after an ill-fated merger with another group followed by the collapse of a corporate partnership that had been in the works.

Now reborn as a subsidiary of publishing company Sandow Media, Gen Art appears to be in it for the long haul, announcing its intention to hold ‘Fresh Faces in Fashion’ events in September and October of 2012 in New York and Los Angeles, respectively (supported by Moroccanoil, the recently announced ‘exclusive hair partner,’ which will be assisting the designers in creating their runway looks, naturally).

The return of Gen Art may be the most high-profile Los Angeles Fashion Week news, but it’s certainly not the only news. Below are some of the fashion and style events on tap for the next several weeks.

Concept Fashion Week returns to the Ace Gallery Los Angeles, 5514 Wilshire Blvd., (Oct. 13 to 16) with a roster of confirmed designers to date that includes Nuvula, Jen Awad, Sachika, Valerj Pobega, Mo Wear, Curly V, Alana Hale, Martin Martin, S&G, Mike Vensel, Liason, ISM Mode, Bryan Hearns, NAMI, Thai Nuygen, Kittenhawk, Elaine Allen and Debakalis.

Style Fashion Week L.A. at Vibiana, (Oct. 17 to 22), in addition to the Gen Art show above, the schedule is expected to include Gypsy 05, Stop Staring!, Alternative Apparel and ‘California Dreaming: A Fashion Celebration for a Cause,’ a fashion showcase featuring eight designers. Scheduled for Oct. 20, the last event will include the presentation of the Moss Adams Fashion Innovator (MAFI) Award.

L.A. Fashion Weekend at Sunset Gower Studios, 7551 W. Sunset Blvd. (Oct. 21 to 23) has a lineup that currently includes Anthony Franco, Tumbler & Tipsy, XCVI, Naveen Los Angeles and Beach Rays among others.

Gen Art’s Fresh Faces in Fashion runway showcase, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m., 214 South Main Street, Los Angeles. Tickets and additional information are available here.

-- Adam Tschorn

RELATED:

Ina Soltani gets dressy at Style Fashion Week L.A.

Emerging-talent incubator Gen Art halts operations

L.A. Fashion Week: Anthony Franco mines ‘Scarface’ and Helmut Newton

actress Zoe Saldana has been tapped to host the organization’s return to the L.A. runway. Credits: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times; Mario Anzuoni / Reuters

[*Updated 10/3/11, at 3:35 p.m.: In an earlier version of this post, the brand Odylyne was misspelled.]