Fashion Show

Pierre Cardin plans his first fashion show in Vietnam in mid-November, and the haute couturier also hopes to open a Maxim's restaurant in the former French colony. Cardin, 71, who already has taken his fashion line to Beijing and the former Soviet bloc, will hire local models for his shows in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, his company said. The designer aims to set up a factory and boutiques in Vietnam and sign contracts for his cosmetics and perfumes.

“Open Call” 9 p.m. Thursday, KCET: “Killing Memories” and “The Anniversary”: Hosted by mezzo-soprano opera singer Suzanna Guzman. “The Wendy Williams Show” 11 a.m. Friday, Fox: Broadway: Actor Blair Underwood of "Streetcar Named Desire. " “Art in the Twenty-First Century” 10 p.m. Friday, KOCE: History: Artists Glenn Ligon, Mary Reid Kelley and Marina Abramovic. “Masterpiece Classic” 9 p.m. Sunday, KOCE: "Birdsong": Lovers are torn apart by World War I. “FIDM Fashion Show 2012” 9 p.m. Sunday, KLCS.

With one glaring exception, Los Angeles' recent crazy-quilt fall calendar of fashion-focused activities unfolded pretty much as planned with a handful of smaller shows that included labels such as Skingraft and Anthony Franco, plus two larger events: Concept Los Angeles Fashion Week, which showcased a handful of designers downtown, and Los Angeles Fashion Weekend at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood. But that lone wrinkle was a real doozy. The 11th-hour cancellation of World Coast Management's long-planned Los Angeles Fashion Week ?

Fashion reality shows have had a big payoff for some participants, catapulting them to full-fledged stardom in the world of style. Christian Siriano was a design student who had apprenticed with industry bigs Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood before he won "Project Runway's" Season 4. Since then, his independent label has become a powerhouse, showing in New York each season, appearing in fashion magazines around the world and dressing stars...

So much for the rooftop party under sunny skies. As Angelenos know, it really does rain in California, at least sometimes. And Wednesday, the day of Aviva's annual fashion show, was one of those times. But for Aviva Family and Children's Services ? which provides counseling and educational programs for adolescents at risk ? the show had to go on. Event co-chair Susan Casden said she waited until 4 p.m. the previous day before moving the event from upstairs on the rooftop pool deck to inside at the London West Hollywood Hotel.

As a mad scientist remakes a dead lover from her remnants or a man marries a replica of his first wife, so Bravo -- the network "Project Runway" left for Lifetime -- has created a new series in the image of the departed old. "The Fashion Show" debuts tonight, in advance of the overdue "Runway" Season 6, the better to attract that show's waiting viewers.

Glossy magazines are shrinking, stores are shuttering and spending is sputtering -- which makes the biannual ritual of designer runway extravaganzas seem as excessive as a failed bank's Vegas junket. But in fashion, the shows must go on. So the fall runway season will kick off on Thursday in New York with 220 events, just five fewer than last February.

Students at the Otis College of Art and Design's annual "Critics Awards" fashion show Saturday night in Beverly Hills displayed a penchant for casual chic and black-tie attire. The students worked under the guiding eyes of designers Gus Tassell, David Hayes, Leon Max, Nick Hilton, Harriet Selwyn and Pamela Barish, and designers from such L.A. labels as Carushka, Nike, Hero USA and ABS.

A fashion show to raise funds for the Montrose Search and Rescue Team will be held March 8 by the La Canada Flintridge Women's Club at Brookside Restaurant in Pasadena. The Montrose Search and Rescue Team is a volunteer reserve unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that is trained to find and evacuate people who are lost or injured in rugged terrain. A $30 donation for the fashion show includes valet parking and lunch in the restaurant's Mediterranean Room.

Animal rights protesters tried to steal the spotlight at the taping of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, storming the stage as scantily clad supermodel Gisele Bundchen strutted down the runway. Carrying signs that said "Gisele: Fur Scum," four members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ran on stage at the New York site Thursday night. PETA has targeted Bundchen since she signed a modeling contract with Blackglama, a leading American fur company.

For all the Beyoncè, Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake sightings, and all the peppy clothes in acid-bright colors and arty prints, what really blew my mind at New York Fashion Week was watching Rico the Zombie in a virtual fashion show. The digitized version of the tout-tattooed model-muse strutting the catwalk was just one of the visual delights at Nicola's, a temporary concept store curated by Nicola Formichetti, the magazine stylist-editor, Mugler designer and frequent Lady Gaga collaborator.

Registration is now open for the 27th Annual Catalina Island Triathlon , Nov. 5 (a Saturday) at Middle Beach in Avalon . . . . Tri-tip and BBQ chicken are on the menu for Friday's Moonlight Hike at Mt. Baldy . Tickets ($16) are limited. Click here for info . . . . The L.A. Athletic Club's Noir Soiree  Oct. 7 includes a photo exhibition, wine tasting and fashion show . Early-bird tickets are $48 (through Sept. 18) . . . . Portland's Oregon Zoo offers discounted $4 admission on the second Tuesday of each month, down from the usual $10.50.

As Paris Fashion Week began on Tuesday, there was only one thing anyone could talk about. The venerable French haute couture house of Christian Dior, credited with putting Paris fashion back on the map after World War II, was rocked in scandal. John Galliano, the flamboyant fashion designer at the helm of the luxury label, and a man known for his over-the-top runway collections, romanticism and love of the bias cut, was being fired. Not because of a collection of clothes but because of a collection of words.

Tom Ford knows how to work the spotlight. During last year's awards season, the designer-director was riding the success of his first film, "A Single Man. " This time around, he's introducing his long-awaited women's collection and new boutique on Rodeo Drive with a star-studded opening party Thursday. The campaign to whet the public's appetite for the clothes began in September during New York Fashion Week, in a private showing where they were modeled by some of the most stylish women in the world (Beyoncé, Julianne Moore, Lauren Hutton and Daphne Guinness among them)

Face it -- celebrities take a lot of heat, particularly when it comes to their faces. And now it appears to be Suzanne Somers' turn. It started with a sensational "plastic surgery run amok" story in the National Enquirer. That led to this column by Toronto Sun writer Mike Strobel who declares "my only scare during Snowmageddon/Snowbigdeal was in the supermarket checkout line" when he saw the "Three's Company" star's face on the cover of the tabloid. The Enquirer story alleges that Somers, 64, might have had a stem cell face-lift.

If the production values of the recent Milan menswear shows are any indication ? an indoor rainstorm at Burberry, John Varvatos' railroad track runway and Ermenegildo Zegna's green-screen "Live-D" presentation ? luxury brands are done hedging their bets and tightening their belts. They are back to selling the sizzle they hope will sell their steak to men who've been on a bread and water diet for the last several seasons. Below are a few of the highlights from the opening act of the 2011 fashion show circuit.

A celebrity fashion show to benefit the Eric Michael Hoggatt Foundation, named for a Reseda High School football player who died after a game in September, will be held Friday in Woodland Hills. The event, which begins at 7 p.m. at the Warner Center Marriott, will feature actors Larry B. Scott and Terrence Howard, and actor-rap artist Tone Loc. It will be hosted by Scott. San Diego neurologist Jay Rosenberg, an expert on concussions, will speak on the risks of head injury in contact sports.

Trading in clerical neckwear for fancy bow ties, two Catholic priests modeled with other community leaders in the Gentlemen's Haberdashery fashion show. Rev. Msgr. Paul Martin and Father Steve Sallot strode down the ramp in tuxedos and then--should anyone doubt their accessory of choice--whipped out Roman collars and held them up to their necks. It was all part of the fun Tuesday at the Newport Beach Marriott and Tennis Club.

The showing of the major men's fall-winter 2011-12 European collections, which this season run Jan. 15 to 18 in Milan and Jan. 19 to 23 in Paris, are the traditional opening salvo in a seemingly endless globe-spanning fashion marathon that doesn't wind down until the Halloween decorations go up. And, because of their pole position on the catwalk calendar, the men's shows often end up being more than the sum of their parts. They offer an opportunity to get an early bead on where menswear and women's wear designers ?

Until two weeks ago, Lindsay Higgins was sleeping on friends' sofas and park benches. But on Sunday evening, the 25-year-old former soldier donned a swirling black and cream evening gown and sashayed down the runway at an improvised fashion show in Los Alamitos celebrating women's military service. "I felt like I could be a model," she said, beaming. The event held at the California Wok restaurant was organized by GI Hope and Amvets, which advocate for veterans and help them locate services such as transitional housing, career advice, and mental health and substance abuse treatment.