Fashion Shows Los Angeles

Dresses, dresses and more dresses. From animal-printed minis to mega-watt glamour gowns, designer Nicole Miller sent out more than 100 of them in a 40-minute retrospective fashion show of her work Wednesday night. "I've never done a show this big," Miller said backstage about her 140-ensemble production, a highlight of the 11th annual California Fashion Industry Friends of AIDS Healthcare Foundation party that raised $400,000 for the organization's outpatient facilities and programs.

Dresses, dresses and more dresses. From animal-printed minis to mega-watt glamour gowns, designer Nicole Miller sent out more than 100 of them in a 40-minute retrospective fashion show of her work Wednesday night. "I've never done a show this big," Miller said backstage about her 140-ensemble production, a highlight of the 11th annual California Fashion Industry Friends of AIDS Healthcare Foundation party that raised $400,000 for the organization's outpatient facilities and programs.

Summer's heat may be five months away, but starting today the temps will fashionably sizzle at the California Mart, the world's largest fashion-industry hub. And the buzz is all about femme fun. Think pink. Slip into gauze. Girlfriend, revisit the '50s. Buyers from across the country--and around the world--will invade CalMart to shop the latest trends for the coming summer season of sand and surf.

L.A. Fashion Week starts today, and this season there are more shows than last year as well as lots of parties as the local fashion scene tries to rise to its red-carpet reputation. No one is pretending the five-day week will rival those in New York, Milan or Paris, but this season's events are attracting more attention, especially from the media. CaliforniaMart, the downtown wholesale center of L.A.'

The frenzied crowd that pushes its way into Gucci's fashion shows twice a year in Milan, Italy, anticipates much more than clothes. Once the lights go up and the music starts, they know they'll see models who seem to have interrupted rich and possibly scandalous lives to strut the runway.

"No, no. Audrey should wear the bathing suit. Chandra's hips will look too big in it." The decision to have a 19-year-old French waif walk down the runway in a bikini of glittering crystals is voiced softly, the words buffed by an Italian accent that smooths any sharp edges. The common perception is that all supermodels are blessed with perfect bodies. But Donatella Versace, the woman in charge, knows better. And she knows exactly what she wants. Next?

L.A. Fashion Week starts today, and this season there are more shows than last year as well as lots of parties as the local fashion scene tries to rise to its red-carpet reputation. No one is pretending the five-day week will rival those in New York, Milan or Paris, but this season's events are attracting more attention, especially from the media. CaliforniaMart, the downtown wholesale center of L.A.'

Further evidence that Los Angeles has become a major player in the fashion world: Gen Art, a nonprofit organization that showcases emerging talent in film, art and fashion, will bring its Fresh Faces in Fashion program to Los Angeles on Monday for the first time. The program gives young designers the opportunity to participate in a runway fashion show that may otherwise be out of reach for them financially. "We have been doing shows for three years in New York, in which we have used some L.A.

One has to wonder if the cigars wielded during the weekend's California Collections were recycled by the assistant stylists between fashion shows, or if each model was issued his or her own puff piece. The accessory of the minute symbolized those oft-abstract sources of inspiration that the fashion world lives to bestow on clothes. For spring and summer '97, cigars suggest Ricky Ricardo's Cuba.

It wasn't New York, but that's exactly the point. When it comes to fashion, California designers proved on the runway Tuesday at CaliforniaMart that they have designs of their own. They could not care less about all those shirtdresses, trench coats and culottes shown last month on New York runways during that city's spring 2001 Fashion Week. In L.A.

Nothing a fashion designer wears for an important appearance is randomly selected. As Jeremy Scott stood backstage at his first U.S. show last week, he was dressed in a shawl-collared tuxedo jacket, a mostly unbuttoned ruffled shirt, Miu Miu sandals, a gaudy rhinestoned eagle necklace and, hanging from his shoulder, a tattered, yellow and white striped cotton tote bag from Giorgio of Beverly Hills. On anyone else, the bag would just be another rescued relic from the '80s.

Seventeen designers. Three hundred-fifty guests. And, damas y caballeros, mucho Latino flair. That was the scene at the black-tie "Hispanic Designers" gala that featured the creations of Latino designers, most from the Los Angeles area. Sponsored by the nonprofit Washington, D.C.-based Hispanic Designers Inc., the Thursday show at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel was the second stop of a three-city tour that began in Washington last month and moves on to Miami in November.

It wasn't New York, but that's exactly the point. When it comes to fashion, California designers proved on the runway Tuesday at CaliforniaMart that they have designs of their own. They could not care less about all those shirtdresses, trench coats and culottes shown last month on New York runways during that city's spring 2001 Fashion Week. In L.A.

You may not know his name now, but if fashion insiders are correct, Los Angeles designer James Sowins will become well-known to customers looking for the kind of clothes you'd get if designs from the patrician Ralph Lauren met up with the surfwear gods at Stussy. Sowins and his Level 7 line were selected to be featured in the West Coast edition of a fashion show put on by Gen Art, a New York group that promotes emerging stars in fashion, film and other arts.

Summer's heat may be five months away, but starting today the temps will fashionably sizzle at the California Mart, the world's largest fashion-industry hub. And the buzz is all about femme fun. Think pink. Slip into gauze. Girlfriend, revisit the '50s. Buyers from across the country--and around the world--will invade CalMart to shop the latest trends for the coming summer season of sand and surf.

"No, no. Audrey should wear the bathing suit. Chandra's hips will look too big in it." The decision to have a 19-year-old French waif walk down the runway in a bikini of glittering crystals is voiced softly, the words buffed by an Italian accent that smooths any sharp edges. The common perception is that all supermodels are blessed with perfect bodies. But Donatella Versace, the woman in charge, knows better. And she knows exactly what she wants. Next?

Steven Stolman isn't sure if people west of the Hudson River will understand his clothes, which are made of printed upholstery fabrics--florals, chintzes, toile de Jouys, chinoiseries or those with neoclassical motifs. His shops in Southampton, Mass.; Nantucket, Mass.; Palm Beach, Fla.; and Manhattan cater to what used to be called "the carriage trade." (He still calls it that.

Latino designer Eduardo Lucero may be known for the candy-colored ruffle skirts and flamenco-inspired lace dresses he contributed to last spring's Cubanismo craze in fashion (and everything else for that matter). But the fall collection he previewed last week proves he is more than a one-trick pony. The sneak peek at Lucero's new line was part of a benefit for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation held at the newly opened Conga Room.

Further evidence that Los Angeles has become a major player in the fashion world: Gen Art, a nonprofit organization that showcases emerging talent in film, art and fashion, will bring its Fresh Faces in Fashion program to Los Angeles on Monday for the first time. The program gives young designers the opportunity to participate in a runway fashion show that may otherwise be out of reach for them financially. "We have been doing shows for three years in New York, in which we have used some L.A.

It was an extravagant, eclectic evening of fashion and compassion, complete with supermodels and star athletes, power celebs and power brokers. But the folks behind Saturday's Passport--an AIDS fund-raising gala that has raised more than $2 million for nonprofit groups dedicated to HIV/AIDS research and care--drove home a very important message: Although new drug therapies and treatments appear to be helping many people to manage HIV infection, this is no time to become apathetic.