Fashion Shows

It was a rare moment of quiet during a whirlwind month of women's fashion shows, when models slowly paraded out into a gilded salon wearing the final 15 masterpieces by the late Lee Alexander McQueen. Each look had been hand-cut on a dress form by the British designer, who committed suicide last month, and each one was more breathtaking than the next. The pieces were so full of religious iconography, including angels and virgins, that one imagines McQueen was contemplating his own mortality while he was creating them.

“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.

Besides rich clients and the world's fashion journalists, there are a handful of others who descend upon Paris each season for the haute couture shows, which took place this week. They are the celebrity stylists, such as Fati Parsia of Los Angeles, who come for a firsthand look at the world's most glamorous fashions for their clients to wear in magazine layouts, music videos, TV appearances, movie premieres and awards shows.

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...

St. John Knits has canceled its show at L.A. Fashion Week. The Irvine-based company, the highest-profile label among the 35 designers on the roster, had occupied the coveted closing show spot on March 23. A St. John spokeswoman said Thursday that the company changed plans because the sales staff was "really focusing on their client base and reaching out to their loyal customers to make sure they are not left behind." St.

Eileen Davis and Izzie Greenberg celebrated Valentine's Day in fashion. Dressed in a black suit and tie, Greenberg escorted Davis, clad in a lavender evening dress with a flowing skirt and matching boa, through a packed auditorium. About 200 elderly men and women, most of them in wheelchairs, applauded loudly as the couple strutted down the aisle showing off their threads.

Under flashing red lights, girls with stick-straight hair and legs sauntered down the construction paper-lined runway in beaded double-knits, organza, vinyl and tulle while students packed into the Granada Hills High School auditorium whistled and cheered. HaNa Lee's fashion debut was a success.

A year ago, designer Thom Browne sent two models down a Milan runway in gray suit jackets, sharing a pair of tailored three-legged suit pants. Six months later, Alexander McQueen showed a men's monokini that attached bikini briefs to a choker neckpiece with a band of fabric. Last month, at his Paris men's runway debut, Gareth Pugh evinced a vision of menswear that involved leather jackets and trousers studded with hundreds of pointy carpet tacks and some orthodontic-looking headgear.

I love fashion shows. There is no better way to spend an hour. Which is one of their charms--they don't last very long. But not all shows are created equal. There are big-ticket spectaculars, local charity affairs, dog parades (not to be confused with dog shows) and nightclub shows. The best--those staged by high-rolling designers--are sumptuous and free. The worst are midnight horror fests at local nightclubs. Most fashion shows fall in between.

Even by Hollywood standards it was a blockbuster production: Dior's 60th anniversary haute couture show, held Monday night in the majestic Orangerie of Versailles. The longest runway in history. A procession of the world's top models wearing one-of-a-kind, decadent gowns. An A-list front row that included Charlize Theron, Kate Hudson, Harvey Weinstein, Sofia Coppola and Juliette Binoche.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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 ?

Marilyn Monroe and a dozen other celluloid heroes came to life at "Lights! Camera! Action!," the 32nd annual Children's Hospital of Orange County All-Guilds Fashion Show. Celebrity look-alikes joined about 2,500 guests for a salute to the silver screen at the guilds' fashion show luncheons Thursday and Friday and a grand finale dinner Friday night at the Anaheim Marriott. The $55-per-person luncheons and $100-per-person finale netted about $175,000 for CHOC's Outpatient Clinic.

In an age when showing the flesh is synonymous with sex appeal, the traditional Korean woman's attire may seem old-fashioned. But as every true-blooded Korean knows, the beauty of the Korean outfit, called a hanbok, is in hiding one's physical attributes under yards of luxurious brocades, silks and satins. In their Confucian-steeped traditional culture, modesty and dignity were paramount. So, the hanbok reflects the Korean character and history.

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.

It all started with " America's Next Top Model. " The Tyra Banks-hosted TV model competition, now in its 15th cycle since debuting in 2003, proved that the business of fashion — played out by packs of volatile young hopefuls — could be fodder for blockbuster TV ratings. "Project Runway," "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," "Shear Genius" and a slew of other shows steeped in the worlds of fashion, modeling, styling and hairdressing followed. Fast-forward seven years, and it's nearly impossible to find a major cable network that doesn't feature at least one show centered on fashion or beauty.