Eastern exposure
THERE are more than 200 runway shows going on this week in New York, with designers coming from as far away as the United Kingdom and India to try to capture a piece of the American market with their spring lines. Jenni Kayne and Linda Loudermilk of Los Angeles are two hopefuls seeking the exposure that only New York, the center of fashion retail and media, can bring. Here’s how they got there:
Jenni Kayne’s runway shows in Los Angeles have always been celebrity-packed, with the front row boasting Anthony Kiedis, Lara Flynn Boyle, Jason Bateman, Dustin Hoffman, Owen Wilson and Jared Leto in past seasons.
But Wednesday when she shows in New York for the first time, it will be all about the clothes.
“We already have a lot of buyers coming, which I’m excited about,” Kayne, 22, said last week in her West L.A. studio before heading east. “The L.A. shows are great, but the buyers don’t come.”
In the seven seasons since Kayne started her line at age 19, she has matured into one of L.A.’s most promising talents, the rare designer who stands out from the jeans- and T-shirt-producing pack here.
In recent years much of the American fashion industry has been focused on denim and evening wear. But Kayne is poised to bring the focus back on wearable sportswear. Much of her collection is based on a basic apron shape with drawstring straps. Done in jersey, it is a kind of camisole; in silk, with a longer length, it becomes an easy dress; short and covered in sequins, it can be worn as a skirt or a tunic over pants.
The shape is based on a vintage piece picked up in the Valley, Kayne said, though she won’t share the names of her favorite haunts for fear they will be overrun.
“For me, it’s all about wearability. I’m always thinking about how I can get 15 outfits out of one piece.”
For spring, her collection is based on 1970s beach culture as documented by photographer to the rich-and-tanned Slim Aarons. The clothes have an elegant ease: nubby beige linen trousers are pre-wrinkled, cropped and cuffed. A buttery leather trench coat fastens slightly left of center with a row of large shell buttons. A bisque chiffon crepe dress with bandeau top is piped in brown leather. There’s a nautical feel to other pieces, including cream linen sailor pants with pink pinstripes, and slouchy navy cashmere cardigans. Prices range from $40 for a T-shirt to $1,300 for a dress.
Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors are designers Kayne admires. One day she too hopes to have a lifestyle empire with dog clothes (for her French bulldogs, Jack and Yoko), home accessories, shoes and bags.
Although she has her share of celebrity fans (Mandy Moore, Cheryl Hines and the Olsen twins), Kayne says many of her customers are older. “My clothes are sexy. They show skin, but not too much,” she says. “You can wear them if you are pregnant or if you are tiny. There’s a mystery to them.”
Kayne grew up in Santa Monica, where she graduated from Crossroads School. Later she attended the Otis School of Fashion and Boston University before working briefly for Jennifer Nicholson (daughter of Jack) as an assistant designer and store buyer.
She has wanted to work in fashion since she was 6, when she remembers critiquing her mother Suzanne’s outfits. It was her mom who took her to her first Chanel fashion show in Paris at age 9. “I was wearing a little black velvet dress, and they passed out white gardenias,” Kayne recalls.
She began sewing at 11 with the help of Linda Sommers, a family friend who designed a short-lived leather clothing line. Kayne even made her own prom dress out of deerskin. She still has it in her studio, a halter style with a scroll-like design at the small of the back and a jagged hem.
Her business has grown from $250,000 in sales the first season to $1 million today, Kayne says, with stores such as Neiman Marcus and Curve supporting her label. But she knows, even with the exposure a New York presentation will bring, it’s not going to be easy. There is a running joke in her studio about the number of designers working today who have the attitude “I like clothes, I have money, I will have a line.”
“I know it’s hard for people to take me seriously,” she says. “But this is hard work.”
Eco-material girl
Linda Loudermilk is calling her first runway show in New York on Thursday an “eco invasion,” during which she will present her line of men’s and women’s clothes created out of recycled and sustainable materials.
The designer is the self-proclaimed founder of the “eco-luxury movement,” a term she has trademarked. Her apparel line is one of a growing number that are environmentally and socially conscious, including Bono’s recently launched Edun, which sources organic fibers and supports worker-friendly factories; Bamboosa, which makes clothing out of bamboo; Romp, which offers leather accessories made only from food byproducts; Loomstate, which produces organic denim; and United Nude, which manufactures footwear from plastics.
In a break between fittings at her Hollywood home, Loudermilk says she thinks the movement is gaining momentum, as consumers begin to embrace the idea that luxury can mean knowing that something was made in an ethical way. Even Nike and Timberland have incorporated sustainable fibers into their merchandise.
“The popularity of the Prius definitely signaled a change in the consciousness,” she says. Loudermilk isn’t a purist (and doesn’t drive a Prius). “That’s what scared people away from the last wave of the environmental movement,” she says. She advocates incorporating small changes in people’s lives rather than overhauling them. To help, she plans to open a store on Melrose Avenue this year with eco-approved fashion and home products.
Loudermilk, who looks more like a rocker than a social activist, studied fashion design at Colorado State University and in 2002 began showing in Paris. But it wasn’t until the next year that she said she had an epiphany that would change her life’s path.
Battling alcoholism, she remembers sitting with her back against a tree and feeling the power of nature for the first time. It gave her the strength to tackle recovery.
Her next collection, which she dubbed “the transformation of the human heart,” featured clothes with images of bodies, tree branches and human hearts. After that, Loudermilk decided she wanted to make environmentalism her life’s work and go beyond fashion to do something “that would have an impact on people’s lives.”
She moved to L.A. in 2003 and went to work researching sustainable fabric resources and in some cases collaborating with companies to create new fabrics. Her latest discoveries are EcoSpun, which feels like sheepskin but is actually a blend of cotton and recycled plastic beverage bottles; Soya, a silk-like fabric made from soybean oil; and Lenpur, which has a texture similar to cashmere but is derived from harvested white pine wood pulp.
Recent designs include a biodegradable silk tank top emblazoned with the image of a peacock ($342); a ruffled scarf made from recycled soda bottles and cashmere ($644); and custom-made gowns with prices that can run into the thousands.
Loudermilk hopes her presence on the New York runway will make the fashion community take notice, because, she says, “we have the potential to make a change.” Her sponsor partners include Aveda, Global Green (the nonprofit arm of Mikhail Gorbachev’s Green Cross International), hybrid limousine fleet Velocity and “green” commercial real estate developer Helena Durst.
