Dean Factor

MODELS and modelizers, tabloid princesses trailing paparazzi, drag queens, freebie hounds and miscellaneous connoisseurs of the scene will gather in a parking lot in Culver City tonight for the opening runway show of the Spring 2007 Mercedes-Benz Los Angeles Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios. Of course, Davis Factor and his brother Dean will be there.

MODELS and modelizers, tabloid princesses trailing paparazzi, drag queens, freebie hounds and miscellaneous connoisseurs of the scene will gather in a parking lot in Culver City tonight for the opening runway show of the Spring 2007 Mercedes-Benz Los Angeles Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios. Of course, Davis Factor and his brother Dean will be there.

As the fall fashion shows continue, this week winding their way to Milan, the final details for next month's runway shows in L.A. are still being ironed out. The most hotly anticipated event is being organized by 7th on Sixth, the same outfit that stages New York's Fashion Week at Bryant Park. "Mercedes-Benz Shows L.A." will take place April 1 through 4 at the Downtown Standard Hotel, with three runways that will cost designers $750 to $3,500 to rent (compared to $20,000 at Bryant Park).

In a move to attract new and younger customers, cosmetics behemoth Estee Lauder Cos. said Monday that it had agreed to acquire Los Angeles makeup brand Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics Inc. Analysts said privately held Smashbox would help give Estee Lauder — whose brands include Clinique, Aveda and MAC — a more youthful appearance. The New York cosmetics company would also gain an expanded presence at specialty retail channels such as Sephora, Ulta and QVC, where much of Smashbox's merchandise is sold.

The image business is getting a new power couple: The trendy Los Angeles photography studio where the Vanity Fair cover of a pregnant and nude Demi Moore was captured is joining forces with its biggest cross-town competitor, which once played host to Snoop Dogg. Smashbox Studios and Quixote Studios, two of Los Angeles' best-known photography houses, will pool their resources to create a new company, starting Dec. 1.

Big steps to come The one thing everyone seems to agree on in this town is to not miss the Key Club's "Carnival: Choreographer's Ball," when the best and the brightest stars in the dance world (i.e., Wade Robson, Chris Judd) strut their stuff. On Jan. 26, the WeHo club celebrates the sixth anniversary of the Ball.... Among the fans who caught last week's Danzig show at the Key Club were Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, "Stone Cold Steve" Austin and Billy Duffy of the Cult....

Ron Levin, the alleged murder victim in the Billionaire Boys Club case, was a grand impostor who posed at various times as "Dr. Levin," an attorney named R. Michael Wetherby, and "Ron Rothschild," a member of the famous banking family, friends testified Tuesday in the murder trial of club leader Joe Hunt.

Confetti. Noisemakers. Funny hats. "Auld Lang Syne." New Year's Eve can be predictable. But what are some prominent Angelenos doing the morning after? Not what you might expect. The New Year is not always celebrated with a whopping hangover; some hold back on the champagne in order to have a bit of fun on Jan. 1, too. John Rubinstein, Tateh in the musical "Ragtime": "We don't have a show that day, we're off.

Dean Factor is on his knees, taping down a rug that many of his stiletto-heeled guests have been tripping over. Minutes later, his older brother, Davis, helps a crew set up a runway sign for designer Michael Ball as a fashion-craved crowd practically stampedes in. You'd think the brothers Factor, great-grandsons of legendary makeup guru Max Factor and owners of their own successful cosmetics line, would rather be holding court with L.A.'s fashion mavens here at their SmashBox Studios.

Jimi Hendrix is dead and selling jeans in Britain. Still selling records, too, 20 years after his death; still unmatched by all would-be imitators of his furious, blazing mastery of the electric guitar. "The Hendrix phenomenon has never really gone away," said George McManus, marketing executive at Polydor Records. Two decades gone, Hendrix is a briskly moving product. Polydor's "Cornerstones" album hit the Top 5 and will shortly go platinum in Britain.

There's some thing about L.A.--maybe it's the grit of Downtown, the glamour of the Westside, or the fact that it's been days since the last major catastrophe--that is bringing the New York fashion world back to the Coast in droves. You could witness it on a recent field trip to Downtown. L.A.-based photographer Melodie McDaniel worked the trigger of her Polaroid 600 SE like a quick-draw artist.