Hey, that’s just like L.A.
Sitting on a folding chair waiting for the Lotta show to begin, Saks Fifth Avenue executive Michael Fink was the very picture of L.A. calm. For Fink and other store buyers who spend more than two months a year fighting to get to their seats at runways around the world, L.A.’s fashion week has been a respite from the usual stilettoed mob scene.
“People here haven’t learned about pushing yet,” Fink, Saks’ senior fashion market director, said Wednesday. “And I actually saw someone cheerfully get up after admitting to being in the wrong seat.”
It was a little touch and go when the seating chart mysteriously disappeared at the Heatherette show, but for the most part, the events at the Standard Hotel have been as civilized as ice cream socials.
No new trends emerged the first two days of shows (which end today at the Standard), but designers coolly reiterated the fashion themes for which this sun-drenched part of the country has become known -- denim, casual clothing, ethnic looks and rock ‘n’ roll ready-to-wear.
At the Heatherette show, there was plenty of flesh -- tanned, toned and taut -- as the ubiquitous Hilton sisters, Paris and Nicky, modeled Hello Kitty Couture. The Sanrio cartoon cat appeared on everything from mini-dresses to tux pants. Heatherette designers Richie Rich and Travis Rains had fun in the show notes too, giving their pieces names like “My mom’s a William Morris agent overall skirt” and “Mann’s Chinese Theatre premiere bow dress.” It was high camp through to the finale, when Amanda Lepore, the transgender New York club character, took to the runway topless, carrying a baby in her arms. With the child’s weight disturbing the delicately engineered balance between Lepore’s gravity-defying breasts and bulbous back end, the image was jarring, to say the least.
All bras were off at the Joey and T show too, where graffiti artists worked with Fred Segal Beauty to airbrush models’ breasts (applying invisible adhesive first for easy peel-off). It wasn’t as raunchy as it sounds, and there was a lot to like in Joey Tierney and Tanya Tamburin’s first collection, which was mostly about skirts. (As stylists, the two dress Britney Spears and the cast of “American Idol.”) One-of-a-kind denim skirts were covered with more spray paint than a freeway overpass. Studs spelled out “Twisted Sister” on a bubble-gum pink leather mini, and multicolored bits of tulle sprouted from a ball skirt fit for a punk princess.
“We want very much to bring arts and crafts back to clothing,” Tierney said. Robertson Boulevard store owner Lisa Kline was impressed. “I want to get first dibs on it,” she said of the line.
Frankie B’s “Valley of the Dolls” theme outshone the clothes. A soundtrack of memorable lines from the 1967 cult film (“Broadway doesn’t go for booze and dope”), and a short performance by the Pussycat Dolls burlesque troupe kicked things off. Unfortunately, designer Daniella Clarke didn’t quite prove what she set out to -- that Frankie B should do more than its signature, dangerously low-rise denim jeans and super-short skirts. Non-denim pieces such as a diamond-quilted bronze miniskirt and a fake-fur chubby jacket weren’t nearly as memorable as Helen Lawson’s on-screen “Dolls” zingers.
Not all of Wednesday’s shows were about sex and rock ‘n’ roll. Trina Turk is designing for the woman who still has a modicum of modesty. At her show, she used a fun, black-and-white dog print to make a puff-sleeve blouse and an easy shirtdress, both of which were studied intently by a Chihuahua in the second row. But the coats -- in loud pink and orange paisley corduroy or nubby black-and-white wool -- didn’t have the same bite.
Cynthia Vincent’s new 12th Street collection wasn’t particularly innovative, but it was full of all the brushed-cotton cargo pants, satin flight suits and anoraks you’ll see women wearing on any street. Vincent seems also to be on board with those (including Nicolas Ghesquiere and Stella McCartney) who are trying to bring back the Members Only-style windbreaker.
Lotta Stensson offered a lot of the Eastern-inspired looks that she has become known for in her shop, Lotta, on Melrose Avenue. And she succeeded, where so many other designers have failed, at making harem pants that don’t look like they came out of Western Costume. Hers were silk Lurex, with billowy legs and elastic at the ankles. She paired them with embroidered Nehru jackets or tunic tops, and nubby hand-knit wrist cuffs by Sarah Rosenberg for Ettie.
Mon Petit Oiseau’s Tracy Wilkinson capped off the long day of shows with a lighthearted collection of flannel pants with dainty ribbon belts, blanket stripe skirts and Peruvian-style alpaca sweaters that could have come straight out of Ali MacGraw’s closet in the 1970s. As guests walked out to the tune of Melanie Safka’s “Brand New Key” (“I’ve got a brand-new pair of roller skates, you’ve got a brand-new key”), you could almost hear the label’s signature bird crowing.
