FASHION FORWARD
Dreamy floor-sweeping confections, daring lingerie, rock and roll jeans, festive flings and party girl Paris Hilton. Put them all together and it can only mean one thing-it’s fashion week in Los Angeles. Mercedes-Benz zoomed into town with its annual five-day bash and a full slate of nonstop excitement.
Things got off to a good start at the W Hotel the previous week as Gen Art hosted a reception for up-and-coming designers, including bartender-turned-fashion maven Suzy Yun. Yun caught the eye of a hip Hollywood outfitter and now she’s working on her first collection for Unhee. “This has been my dream since I was a little girl,” she said “It blows my mind. I didn’t think anyone was paying attention.”
The fashionable festivities moved to the great outdoors a few days later as MBZ and Judith Rika hosted an afternoon of Pool Jewels.
MBZ had its flashy $450,000, 200 mph SLR McLaren gullwing parked outside while Ripka displayed several cases of eye-catching bling with mega-sized stones in every color of the rainbow. The fashionable crowd, decked out in distressed denim, Berkin bags and Chanel shades, sipped mojitos and snacked on wild salmon, taking a break every now and then to have a neck massage at the cabanas to relieve that pre-show front row seat stress.
We left in the mood for summer with nifty LeSportsac swag bags filled with warm weather essentials like Hawaiian print bikinis, flip flops, sugar scrub and suntan oil. Aloha!
Next it was off to command central-Smashbox Studios. Things got off to a glorious start with designer Kevan Hall’s kaleidoscopic collection. A battalion of photographers crowded at the foot of the runway as we took our seats. The lights went down and the volume went up on some of diva Diana Ross’ greatest hits. Kevan opened his show with a parade of flowy gowns done in rich shades of chocolate brown and mulberry. Leggy models sporting vintage DR dos made their way down the catwalk in creations that screamed old-style Hollywood glam.
There were soft tweeds with fur-trimmed ponchos, fabulous fur muffs in green and tangerine, red carpet-worthy fishtails, rhinestones, ruffles and Charlize Theron-sized bows. Then came an explosion of vibrant evening gowns, strapless, backless, off the shoulder, all in electric shades of turquoise, ruby red, magenta and emerald green. At the end, Kevan took his final bow to a standing ovation. But there was more in store.
Songbird Christina Aguilera and our very own Cher were among the faces in the cutting-edge crowd at Agent Provacateur while paparazzi princess Carmen Electra and rocker Anthony Kiedis went for Louis Verdad. The stylish shebang continued with those exotic Asian offerings by Sue Wong and wrapped up with the latest look from Bebe.
And to make sure the L.A. fashion scene keeps rolling along, title sponsor MBZ is kicking off a new scholarship program, which will provide one aspiring designer with a $20,000 scholarship at L.A.’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
“It’s our hope that the scholarship recipient will be recognized with the same acclaim as Kevan Hall,” MBZ’s Pat Bolter said. “We are proud to help the next generation realize their dreams.” Bravo!