Fashion turns toward its heart of darkness

Ghostly pale models saunter down a rose-strewn bowling alley-like runway wearing black latex, Victorian frocks and mesh shirts accessorized with bondage hardware, safety pins and metal studs. The crowd swoons to the corrosive sounds of Tool, Nine Inch Nails and Sisters of Mercy.

White Christmas this isn’t. No Bing Crosby tunes or cheery plaids and velvet bows at Dark Holiday, a Goth party-cum-fashion show dreamed up by clothing designer Peter Graham and played out Saturday night in a loft in downtown L.A.

“Right now, rock ‘n’ roll is going through kind of a dark period, that’s why you see so much Goth stuff out there,” says Graham, who owns Shrine, a Melrose Avenue boutique specializing in rock wear from the dark side.

Although he is clad in black -- from his zippered vest to his heavy Herman Munster shoes -- tonight’s creations are culled from a slightly broader palette. “We have an industrial vibe where everything is kind of raw and unfinished,” he says. “But there’s also a lot of romantic stuff.” Thus, the tight pink bodices for the ladies and ruby-colored frock coats for the gents. There’s even a -- gasp -- white billowy Count shirt and a flowing sun dress.

“This is their first event I’ve been to, but I like their clothes,” says a blue-haired Deann Morales, wearing a black felt hat, corset, garters and fishnets. “The stuff here is kind of a mix between industrial and Goth.” (As you’d expect, there are a few jaded souls in the room, like the young man who disses the whole fashion parade as “soooo 1996.”)

Off the runway, there’s more than enough dungeon couture.

In a roomful of New Rock boots, tight vinyl pants and piercings, the heavily mascaraed Andres Diaz manages to stand out with his towering pair of pyramid-shaped hair buns. “I’m a clothing designer too, and I just like to check out what’s going on,” he says. It’s also, apparently, a schmooze-fest for the demimonde. “Everybody here knows each other,” Diaz says. “It all goes back to the clubs that happen in Hollywood. Like Perversion and Dungeon.”

Not that that should frighten anyone.

Designer Peter Graham’s show and party stress an industrial vibe.