Encore! Encore!
New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani--eat your heart out! There’s room for two cities on the U.S. fashion map.
It was hardly New York’s much-heralded Fashion Week, but Mayor Richard Riordan was on hand at the CaliforniaMart on Monday to usher in L.A.’s spring 2000 buying season. Market Week here began with a runway show with collections by Bisou Bisou, Candies, Bongo, Karen Kane, Laundry, Necessary Objects, Rampage, members of CLAD (The Coalition for Los Angeles Designers) and others.
The good news for spring is that nothing much is changing. The bad news is that nothing much is changing. Bohemian chic, denim, gypsy, peasant and ethnic looks will hang on into the new year, but the futuristic high-tech look has fizzled like a glass of cheap champagne.
“Everyone assumed with the turn of the century everything would be Space Age,” explained Cynthia Vincent of St. Vincent. “But we went for that in early 1999. Now we are going for ‘hands-on,’ homemade looks.” Vincent was among the 50 or so designers to participate in the event, hosted by Directives West, a Los Angeles retail consulting firm.
The runway was awash in denim, but Vincent’s ankle-length dark denim skirt covered at the hem with a band of silver studs was a standout. Hippie-inspired backless scarf shirts, short skirts with handkerchief hems and cropped pants with rickrack trim were popular with all designers. Even bikinis and bathing suit wraps by Gottex and Girl Star got the ethnic treatment with mirrors and embroidery.
Patchwork--perhaps inspired by Tommy Hilfiger’s fall 1999 collection--was also a big trend. Illia sewed multicolored suede patches into a coat, while C:EED showed a pretty cropped jacket covered in Asian silk patchwork.
Ladylike skirts and cropped pants in flowery prints by William B. and Trina Turk seemed commercially appealing, and BCBG’s tailored taupe felt dress surprised and pleased the eye with its unfinished seams. BCBG’s featherweight dress with layers of red, pink and navy tulle looked breezy and fresh for spring, but don’t throw away those ball skirts just yet: They’ll still look right in the next century.
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E-mail Booth Moore at booth.moore@latimes.com.
