Peeks at Fashion Week

TECHNICALLY, L.A. Fashion Week is a members-only affair. (And we’re not talking jackets.) The action happens at Culver City’s Smashbox Studios, Sunday to next Thursday, and if you’re not an insider, good luck getting in. But fledgling fashionistas, take heart: Several events on the periphery are open, even if you’ve never uttered the word “fabulous.”

Perhaps the most established alternative event is Friday’s “The New Garde: A Celebration of Innovative L.A. Fashion,” put on by the Gen Art organization. “It’s a showcase of avant-garde designs in dynamic installations,” says Jennifer Egan, director of Gen Art L.A. That translates into the fall lines of three emerging designers shown simultaneously in themed areas of the Ivar Studio in Hollywood.

More newcomers strut their stuff in downtown L.A. The Box Eight collective will take over the Los Angeles Theatre for a group show Friday, followed by a solo show by Jared Gold, who drew attention last year for creating brooches out of live cockroaches. Red-carpet fave Eduardo Lucero is the focus Saturday. And the online Kitten Magazine will present 12 shows at the Standard Hotel; each features an emerging designer and lots of models -- not that anyone would go, you know, just to see models.

* Gen Art: 7 p.m. Friday. Ivar Studio, 1535 Ivar Ave., Hollywood. $40 to $75. (310) 601-3213, genart.org

* Box Eight: 7 and 9 p.m. Friday, 9 p.m. Saturday. Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway, L.A. $15 with RSVP, $20. (213) 631-0560, boxeight.com

* Kitten Fashion Week: 6 to 9 p.m. today and Friday; 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday. The Standard, 550 Flower St., L.A. $29.95 per hour. kittenfashionweek.com