Nordstrom Fall Line Goes Nightclubbing

Nordstrom put on a show of fall fashions by California designers the other night and kept the whole idea young.

The setting was the Stock Exchange nightclub in downtown Los Angeles, where people leaned over a balcony to watch models who wore black sunglasses, no matter what else.

The featured clothes were often body-conscious--and sometimes costume-like--short, tight skirts; long, opaque skirts; strapless dresses; hip-hugging jackets.

Most people in the audience were fashion designers, fashion business representatives or store buyers, which made for a very friendly attitude toward the outfits on the runway. But some designers’ styles elicited extra enthusiasm.

Antony Moorcroft was one. He showed pastel suits and dresses in shirred rayon, with jackets or coats to match. The clothes wrapped a torso mummy-style, but flared into soft skirts.

Michelle Lamy’s collection of stretchy jersey clothes included shirred dresses worn with stoles, and shirred skirts worn with crop tops. They were playfully glamorous, part Madonna, part Marilyn.

Todd and Company designers Norman Todd and Stacey Feldman showed white for fall. There were silky skirts with shaker knit sweaters, cotton knit leggings with quilted, silky jackets and a clean-cut tank dress topped by a long, soft, man-tailored shirt. These clothes were a reminder that Los Angeles is one of the few fashion centers where white clothes look right for fall.

Plenty of designers offered their version of the short, tiered skirt that has been popular here this summer. In his collection, Ron Finley for Drop Dead fashions topped a tiered linen skirt with a leather bustier. It was an outfit you would expect to see at the new Stock Exchange.