Los Angeles Fashion Week Begins

Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '08
from WWD & Apparel News

Fashion Week in Los Angeles kicked off on March 6 with several independent shows, followed by Gen Art’s New Garde fashion event on March 7. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios got underway on March 9. Apparel News will run daily coverage of the runway shows at Smashbox and around town.

His future is now

Nicolas Ghesquiere
click to enlarge

Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

Fashion, says designer Nicolas Ghesquière, means “putting together many, many things, crossing the universe ... .” His space-age vision thrilled on the Paris runway. Now, Nicolas Ghesquière is ready to take on L.A.

IT'S a cloudless day in L.A., and Nicolas Ghesquière is showing me around his greenhouse. It's actually the new Balenciaga store in the pool blue shadow of the Pacific Design Center, but it could well be some otherworldly garden. Here, in this spectacular tinted glass space on Melrose Avenue, the color-daubed dresses and tops from his spring collection hang like hothouse flowers.
"When you drive by at night, it looks like the whole store is blue and moving," Ghesquière says, gazing out at the cacti in front of the Space Age meets California Organic building, which he designed with French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster.

For a Parisian, he's really got this L.A. thing down. The truth is Ghesquière, 35, is no stranger to this city, where he has been shooting the Balenciaga ad campaigns for four seasons, holing up at the Bel-Air for a week at a time and planning the store, the second Balenciaga location in the U.S. He even has a list of favorite spots: Matsuhisa, Sunset Tower, the Polo Lounge, Arcana bookstore in Santa Monica.

"I understand why people live here," he says. It makes sense that this student of science fiction and the most technically innovative designer of his generation would feel at home in the land of Schindler and Lautner, the special effects capital of the universe, where the lines between faux and real are forever blurred. His work is a fusion of Old World couture and the eternally modernist sensibility that this metropolis represents, of French elegance and casual athleticism.

If you're wearing a flippy skirt, gladiator sandals, ankle boots or a big, ethnic-print scarf, no matter what label they have inside, you're wearing them because of Ghesquière. And come fall, when you're piling on your mother's costume jewelry, you'll have Ghesquière to thank for that too. Chunky crystal necklace and bracelet sets were all over his show in Paris last month, which was one of the best of the runway season. His most accessible yet, with its austere black dresses and longer hemlines, the fall collection had a mature look that suits the times and broadens Balenciaga's reach.

This may be the age of Ghesquière, but when he arrived at Balenciaga a little more than a decade ago, the house had little currency except for a few perfume licenses. Spanish master Cristobal Balenciaga, revered for his sculptural volumes, retired in 1968. The consummate couturier, he refused to do ready-to-wear. And for a while, Ghesquière mostly expanded on his designs.

In 2001, he launched an "it" bag, the Lariat, with its multiple zippers and stitched handle, that is still a retail hit. But even that couldn't save the brand from losing money. Ghesquière and the head of Balenciaga's parent company, Gucci Group Chief Executive Robert Polet, charted a course toward profitability by creating the Edition line of reissued couture originals, and the Capsule collection of less expensive, runway-inspired pieces, which now forms the bulk of the business. Both are available at the L.A. store, along with menswear.

Ghesquière has found his own voice, and made Balenciaga the most trend-setting French fashion brand, and the only fashion brand besides Prada that consistently affects every level of the market. Now, he's aiming to conquer Hollywood, with a staff person to help with celebrity requests -- Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Connelly and the Olsen twins are fans -- and a VIP room that looks like a spaceship. No doubt, the name Ghesquière -- that's JESS-scare-- will soon be on everyone's lips.

What goes around . . . It's hard to believe it's been only six years since the designer hit his lowest point, making headlines for copying a 1974 collage vest by Bay Area artist Kaisik Wong seam-for-seam. Nevermind that he was seasons ahead of the fashion pack, presaging an interest in wearable art that has since made Rodarte shine.

Now, Ghesquière is himself one of the most copied designers, with lines from the cerebral Proenza Schouler (long, lean jackets, flippy skirts and domed hats from Fall '06) to the cheap-chic Zara (ikat scarves and schoolboy blazers from Fall '07) "borrowing" from him.

Without elaborate set pieces, he has created some of the most dramatic fashion-as-theater runway moments in recent history -- all at the company's tiny Left Bank showroom. Ghesquière is a master at orchestrating excitement. His models move around the runway hurriedly, giving guests barely enough time to take in the multicolored Lego-like plastic shoes, C-3PO metal plate leggings and baroque pants suits. No wonder you always leave wishing you could see the show again.

Which is why, when you meet him, it's surprising to find that he is completely disarming, the antithesis of a rock star designer. He's small in stature, but his crystal blue eyes give him presence. What he enjoys most about coming to the U.S., he says, is that women aren't afraid to approach him. "Here, people come up to you at Barneys and say, 'I love that you did this,' or 'I have your bag.' I have to say that is really nice."

Ghesquière should be humble, because it's not often a designer lands the top spot at a French fashion house without having ever attended design school, plucked out of the back room where he was designing uniforms for a Japanese licensing partner.

He grew up in Loudun, France, a small town about three hours outside of Paris, where he spent less time on his studies than on his drawings -- fashionable portraits of Marvel comic strip heroes the Fantastic Four and '80s icons such as Grace Jones. When he was 15, his father, a golf course manager, helped him send a few sample sketches to Agnés B, and the label took him on for a month during the summer. "In 1987, Paris was the cool place. It was the moment of Jean Paul Gaultier, Claude Montana, Thierry Mugler and Azzedine Alaïa. It was the beginning of fashion as pop culture."

Ghesquière had barely finished high school when he scored an internship at Gaultier in 1990, then at the cone-bra height of his popularity. "It was about coffee and not much drawing," he says. "But I was looking at everything . . . I learned that fashion is putting together many, many things, crossing the universe of arts, movies and music." "Fashion used to be very subversive," he says. "Now it's about brands. If you want a name, you have to build a brand."

The fall season in Paris saw the beginnings of a backlash against fashion as big business, with a return to minimalism and nary a handbag on the runway. "There are so many shows, I feel like they are just throwing clothes on the catwalk," Ghesquière says. "I'm not naming names, but you think they should edit." Ghesquière has never shown handbags on his runway. He's too cool for that. But he knows that now that Balenciaga is going global, it's going to be even harder to stay above the fray. "For me," he says, "the craft is really what's making a difference."

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Click here to read about eFashionHouse.com on Apparel News.

Designer creates BCBGeneration out of two more youth-oriented lines

BCBG Max Azria is combining its BCBGirls and To the Max lines to create one lower-priced line starting this season. A capsule collection will be unveiled next week with a full collection to follow at WWDMAGIC in February. Prices will average around $88, almost half of the average price of a BCBG Max Azria contemporary piece. "With BCBGeneration, I look forward to offering an underserved consumer, regardless of age, superior fashion at competitive prices," Max Azria told WWD.

Ready-to-wear, dresses and outerwear, as well as footwear, handbags, small leather goods, belts and watches will be available at Bloomingdale's, Macy's , Dillard's, and specialty boutiques for fall 2008.

[Source: WWD & SHINY STYLE ]

BCBG designer sunglasses. Fashionable wire-rims from Paris-born Max Azria give you good style and good attitude. Polycarbonate lenses offer 100% UV protection.

BCBG designer handbags soft tan leather satchel designer purse. Extremely soft tan leather with a flap over weighted ring and magnetic snap top closure. Measures approximately 15 W x 5 H with a 5 inch depth. The metal and leather strap measures about 18 inches with a 10 inch drop. Fully lined interior with one zippered pocket and multiple open pockets. A leather BCBGMAXZARIA tag is sewn on the outside and interior of the bag. Guaranteed authentic. Comes with sleeper bag.

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More About BCBG
BCBG
BCBG = bon chic, bon genre

BCBG Max Azria from nymag.com The Label In the last sixteen years, Max Azria has added fifteen brands—including BCBGirls, To The Max, and Hervé Léger, which he acquired in 1999—to his BCBG empire (named by his wife, Lubova, for the French phrase bon chic, bon genre—Parisian slang for “good style, good attitude"). And just this year he showed his first collection under his name alone. Although the “exclusive” new Max Azria Collection is carried in only a small fraction of his 340 worldwide boutiques, its undone linens, ruffled faille, and loosey-goosey shirt dresses received a tepid reception compared to the more familiar (and playful) embroidered linen frocks and slinky silk dresses in the spring 2007 BCBG line. The Look A master of distilling everything cute and wearable in seasonal trends—be it wistful baby-doll dresses in 1989, suede and layered tulle skirts in 2000, or origami-treated pieces in his past two collections—Azria puts out nearly 4,000 styles per year. The Designer Born in Tunisia in 1948, Azria moved to Paris as a teenager to study acting but ended up designing womenswear. Upon moving to the States, he started a concept store called Jess, selling his own affordable French fashions to Hollywood starlets before launching BCBG in 1989, which has expanded into shoes, handbags, sunglasses, swimwear, a line of fragrance, and menswear.

It's gold for green designer

By Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Photo: from Treehugger.com Wallpaper interview with Rogan Gregory (left).

Eco-friendly clothier Rogan Gregory wins Council of Fashion
Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund top prize.

SCORE another one for the green team: Rogan Gregory, a New York City designer of socially conscious, eco-friendly brands, has won the Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund top prize.

The award, created to support emerging American designers, comes with a $200,000 prize and a track record of raising the profiles of those who have won it. Last year's winner was Doo-Ri Chung, with the Trovata collective winning in 2005. Earlier this year the Valentino Fashion Group bought a 45% stake in Proenza Schouler, the label launched by Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, who took home the inaugural prize in 2004.Gregory's win was announced at a New York gala to benefit the CFDA/Vogue Initiative for HIV/AIDS on Nov. 15. The runners-up, Philip Crangi and Phillip Lim, will each receive $50,000. All three will receive a year of business mentoring.

Gregory, 35, is best known for the Edun line of men's and women's sportswear, a collaboration with U2 frontman Bono and Bono's wife, Ali Hewson. The line was launched in 2005 with the goal of providing sustainable employment in developing countries. In 2001, Gregory launched the Rogan denim label (with business partner Scott Hahn), followed by the all-organic Loomstate denim collection in 2004. In addition to selling at high-end department stores (Barneys New York) and boutiques (Hollywood Trading Co.), there is a Rogan retail shop on Franklin Street in New York City. In a phone interview, Hahn said the prize money had already been allocated "many times over."

"We don't need it for any one thing like putting on a runway show or opening a studio. We need it to help develop things like our sourcing, which is crucial for brands like ours," he said, referring to the company's goals of organic and sustainable production.

The Fashion Fund is supported by Gap, Vogue magazine and a handful of fashion manufacturers and retailers.

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Rogan Gregory Interview at Wallpaper.com
by Collin Young, Seattle

Hot on the heels of a feature in Wallpaper's EcoEdit, designer Rogan Gregory (the guy behind Loomstate and Edun -- that's him on the left) sat down for an interview with the style and design mag. He talks about what it's like to work with Bono and wife Ali Hewson, as he did with Edun, combining high fashion with social equity in Africa, about which he says, "We are pushing though, wherever we go, to create sustainability." Rogan's line of bespoke industrial-style furniture and objects, Rogan Objects, is also a topic of discussion, allowing the designer to elaborate on his personal design and sustainability values. "I am definitely aesthetic-oriented. If I don’t like the way the way something looks but it’s super-eco, I don’t give a shit. It’s got to look nice," he says. "I’m just not so extreme and I don’t expect people to be so extreme. I expect people to buy things for the way they look. I don’t count on people to do it out of the goodness of their heart, I don’t think you can." Yeah, we know this stuff is more expensive than conventional alternatives, but when it comes to looking good when walking the walk, not to mention Rogan's part in helping create a new green cultural zeitgeist, it doesn't get much better. Read the whole interview here at Wallpaper.com.

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The Hayden by Dooney & Bourke

DesignersLA
Celebrity influence is being made by the new handbag Dooney & Bourke is introducing soon.

from Batch Please

Hollywood's newest "it" girl, Hayden Panettiere is the latest celebrity face for designer handbag brand Dooney & Bourke. The "Hayden" is a limited edition Dooney & Bourke bag designed by the starlet herself. “I wanted to do something people haven’t seen from Dooney & Burke before, so my bag is red patent leather,” said Hayden of her eponymous bag. I definitely agree with Hayden. This bag is definitely something different for the Dooney & Bourke brand. They're known more for classically styled leather handbags, not something as bold as red patent leather. I think this is a good look for the brand though. The bag is cute and I think it will appeal to trendsetters of all ages. If you're interested in owning the "Hayden," it will go on sale this December for $500.

Circadian Studios

Circadian Studios

Circadian Studios creates hand-crafted jewelry by Deanna Abney. The studios are located in San Francisco. The pieces available in DesignersLA are from a limited edition and no longer available through the artist. They are made of genuine sterling silver and 14k gold plated over silver. The organic forms and shapes are pounded and made to resemble Circadian objects. Very unique, very minimal yet bold.

Fashion is an art

from The Fashion Gurus

Fashion is an art, like architecture and music. Fashion is an ever-changing phenomenon that captivates the entire world. Though there are signs from earlier, it can be fairly clearly dated to the middle of the 14th century, to which historians including James Laver and Fernand Braudel date the start of fashion in clothing. The pace of change accelerated considerably in the following century, and women's fashion, especially in the dressing and adorning of the hair, became equally complex and changing. Fashion Art historians are therefore able to use fashion in dating images with increasing confidence and precision, often within five years in the case of 15th-century images. Initially changes in fashion led to a fragmentation of what had previously been very similar styles of dressing across the upper classes of Europe, and the development of distinctive national styles, which remained very different until a counter-movement in the 17th to 18th centuries imposed similar styles once again, finally those from Ancient regime France. The habit of continually changing the style of clothing worn, which is now worldwide, at least among urban populations, is a distinctively Western one.

The "Spanish style" of the end of the century began the move back to synchronicity among upper-class Europeans, and after a struggle in the mid 17th century, French styles decisively took over leadership, a process completed in the 18th century. Fashion The fashions of the West are unparalleled either in antiquity or in the other great civilizations of the world. Men's fashions largely derived from military models, and changes in a European male silhouette are galvanized in theatres of European war, where gentleman officers had opportunities to make notes of foreign styles: an example is the "Steinkirk" cravat or necktie. The pace of change picked up in the 1780s with the increased publication of French engravings that showed the latest Paris styles; though there had been distribution of dressed dolls from France as patterns since the sixteenth century, and Abraham Bosse had produced engravings of fashion from the 1620s.

Although tailors and dressmakers were no doubt responsible for many innovations before, and the textile industry certainly led many trends, the History of fashion design is normally taken to date from 1858, when the English-born Charles Frederick Worth opened the first true haute couture house in Paris. Since then the professional designer has become a progressively more dominant figure, despite the origins of many fashions in street fashion. When people who have cultural status start to wear new or different clothes a fashion trend may start. The terms "fashionista" or "fashion victim" refer to someone who slavishly follows the current fashions (implementations of fashion).

One can regard the system of sporting various fashions as a fashion language incorporating various fashion statements using a grammar of fashion. For some, modern fast-paced changes in fashion embody many of the negative aspects of capitalism: it results in waste and encourages people qua consumers to buy things unnecessarily. Other people, especially young people, enjoy the diversity that changing fashion can apparently provide, seeing the constant change as a way to satisfy their desire to experience "new" and "interesting" things.

Beth Orduna

Beth Orduna

Born and reared in Los Angeles, jewelry designer Beth Orduna's artistic vision is doubly influenced by the Southern California lifestyle and her Mexican heritage. She believes that nature teaches us and she chooses only natural materials for her innovative jewelry, saying natural stones are as unique and individual as the person wearing them.

BETH ORDUNA designer jewelry yin yang ebony silver wire pierced earrings. Beth Orduña punctuates chunks of ebony with yin/yang knots of contrasting cotton threads. They dangle from lengths of silver on sterling French wires. Handmade in USA. 2 1/2"L. Sterling silver is a white, highly reflective precious metal composed of 925 parts of pure silver and 75 parts alloy, usually copper. Copper provides the silver with sufficient hardness and wearing qualities, as pure silver is too soft to be used or worn everyday. Sterling silver is used in a wide variety of jewelry for a beautiful polished look.Guaranteed authentic. Use coupon code OFF20 for an additional 20% off this item.

SKU :DLA07BO07X89

Abu Original

Abu Original

Abu was born in Philadelphia and raised in Southern California. His talent was recognized at an early age when his first kindergarden art project was featured in the local newspaper. He's been expressing himself artistically ever since. He's mastered several different genres of art, such as BMX free-styling, hip-hop dancing and furniture design. His current focus is on leather accessories and apparel. Because Abu is self-taught, mass media and external influences do not dictate what he chooses to create. Each piece is hand-signed with his signature letter "a" which gives the final result an extra special touch. Through his work, Abu aspires to resore integrity and dexterity in fine American craftmanship, which is currently lost to big business and overseas mass production. Abu Original embraces the condept of a person's uniqueness and originality. With that in mind, no two pieces are identical. "You will no longer have to worry about having the same thing as others. If you're ready to become a trendsetter, you've come to the right place. Lead or be led." Abu Original.

ABU ORIGINAL leather necklace multiple strand swoosh wide designer jewelry. Silver hardware. Guaranteed authentic. One of a kind design. Each item is unique. No two items are ever exactly the same. Measures about 14 inches long from hook to eye closure. Worn as a choker style ina variety of positions around the neck. Only one available. Hand made by Abu. Select color from the drop down menu.

SKU :DLA06AO11X30WMWf