Glenn Williams

“Too nouvelle for me,” mumbled a guest, heading prematurely for the door after a model--her face swathed in gauze and curly hair, her body draped in a double-breasted trench coat--had stood motionless for nearly 40 minutes.

The frozen mannequin, serenaded by harp music, was the offbeat beginning of Los Angeles designer Glenn Williams’ fall fashion show last week.

Williams said his intention was to introduce a sampling of his work and call attention to the images of New York-based photographer Joyce Tenneson, whose Polaroid photographs line the walls of Williams’ showroom, appear on the pages of his fall catalogue and were reproduced on the runway.

Once the mannequin stepped off her white pedestal, the show’s pace picked up, starting with twin male models in rayon-gabardine blazers and pleated pants--the same outfit the designer wore.

Spencer jackets, loose fitting pants, minimal layering and subdued colors, such as cocoa and black, are concepts that appear in both the women’s and men’s designs.

Romantic and uncluttered, the women’s wear is designed in plain or patterned rayon gabardine. The dressier clothes, often a long tunic top over slightly pegged pants or a flouncy skirt, are in crepe. Textured rayon crepe, used for a short flared jacket and long slim skirt, is a new fabric that takes on the look of suede in certain lights.