Los Angeles Fashion Week - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Los Angeles Fashion Week takes place each March (for fall collections) and October (for spring collections) in locations throughout the Los Angeles area.

History

Los Angeles Fashion Week started in the middle of the 20th century with "Press Week" and the invitation of fashion journalists to see collections from, and in, Southern California.

Since the late 1990s, Los Angeles Fashion Week has been represented and coordinated by a loose consortium of L.A. fashion designers, journalists, and marketers interested in its success. Among the longest running Fashion Week exhibitions since that time is Gen Art, with its annual "Avant Guardians" and "Fresh Faces in Fashion" events, which are held in March and October respectively at venues throughout Los Angeles.

In 2002, IMG's fashion division, which produces Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week can refer to:*New York Fashion Week, also known as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week*Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami, the annual swim fashion week in Miami...

in New York, made its first foray west, with Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

Shows LA in downtown Los Angeles at The Standard hotel. Simultaneously, Davis Factor and Dean Factor produced Smashbox Fashion Week Los Angeles at Smashbox Studios

Smashbox Studios

Smashbox Studios is a premier photo and film studio in Los Angeles that regularly hosts photo shoots, film shoots, and events for photographers, producers and celebrities.-History:...

in Culver City. Dozens of designers showed their collections to journalists, celebrities, family and friends at these two centralized venues, while others still chose to show their collections in unique off site venues such as nightclubs, private estates, train stations, churches and lofts. In 2003, IMG and Smashbox united under one banner to streamline services and venues, choosing the Factor-owned Smashbox Studios Culver City location over downtown Los Angeles venues. The relationship between IMG and Smashbox Studios lasted for five years, with the October 2008 shows marking their final presentation together. Journalists faulted the quality of the designer collections shown; designers faulted the lack of media attendance and the late date on the international calendar; and most everyone faulted the isolated venue experience and insubstantial celebrity attendance.

In October 2005, the LA Fashion Awards debuted to celebrate and honor the very best of California fashion. The annual Awards are timed at the closing of Fashion Week and the opening of Market Week in October, at the service of both retail store buyers and press. A nominating committee of more than forty of LA's top fashion journalists, merchandisers, stylists, designers and marketplace experts participate in the selection process. Among past winners are educator Rosemary Brantley

Rosemary Brantley

Rosemary Brantley is a fashion designer. She began her career as a runway model in Dallas. She then attended Parsons School of Design in New York. When she graduated in 1973, she was named "Designer of the Year." She worked for companies in London and New York as a designer, illustrator, and...

; retailers Ron Herman, Fred Segal

Fred Segal

Fred Segal is an upscale Los Angeles, California based clothing retailer. There are currently two Fred Segal stores: one in Hollywood and the other in Santa Monica....

, Cameron Silver and Christos Garkinos; designers Trina Turk, Monique Lhuillier

Monique Lhuillier

Diane Monique Lhuillier is a fashion designer most prominently known for bridal wear. She owns a couture fashion house based in Los Angeles, California....

and Max Azria

Max Azria

Max Azria is a French fashion designer of Tunisian Jewish descent who founded the contemporary women's clothing brand BCBGMAXAZRIA. Azria is also the designer, chairman and CEO of BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP, a global fashion house that encompasses over 20 brands...

; fashion innovators Nony Tochterman of Petro Zillia, Rozae Nichols and Juan Carlos Obando; journalist Rose Apodaca; stylist Arianne Phillips

Arianne Phillips

Arianne Phillips is a costume designer. She has also been Madonna's stylist and has designed and styled her last four concert tours. She has worked with Lenny Kravitz, Courtney Love, No Doubt and Justin Timberlake...

; web publisher DailyCandy

DailyCandy

DailyCandy is an e-mail newsletter based in New York. It was founded by Dany Levy in March 2000. It was sold to Bob Pittman's Pilot Group Ventures for around $3 million in 2003, and then sold to Comcast for $125 million in August 2008. Previously a New York-only insider's newsletter; DailyCandy has...

; event producer Gen Art; brands American Apparel

American Apparel

American Apparel is a clothing manufacturer in the United States. It is a vertically integrated clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer that also performs its own design, advertising, and marketing...

, Volcom

Volcom

Volcom, Inc. is a designer, marketer and distributor of young men's and young women's clothing, footwear, accessories and related products sold under the Volcom brand name. Volcom is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, United States...

, J Brand, Bebe

Bebe stores

bebe stores are an American clothing retailer founded in 1976. The name was inspired by, and is pronounced as in, the phrase "to be or not to be" from the play Hamlet. Manny Mashouf, who emigrated to the United States in the early 1970s, opened the first bebe store in San Francisco during a time...

, Guess; and the television show Project Runway
Project Runway
Project Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme...

. The program is produced by LA Fashion Awards, LLC, which was co-founded by fashion industry veterans Jennifer Uner and Mary Hill with the support of several visionary sponsors and the endorsement of local fashion industry non-profit organizations California Fashion Association, Fashion Group International of Los Angeles, Fashion Business Incorporated, the Fashion District BID, and also the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation

Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation

Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation is a private, non-profit organization established in 1981 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors...

and WTCA. The Awards were placed on hiatus in October 2008 after sponsorship support was put on hold in the wake of the financial market meltdown that September. This annual program is expected to return in 2009.

In February 2007, artist Peter Gurnz, developer Gary Warfel, and downtown resident Brady Westwater - all members of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC) - created an alternative Fashion Week venue in Downtown Los Angeles, for the first time since IMG moved their production to Smashbox Studios in 2003. It was produced by a local arts organization, BOXeight, founded by artist/designer Peter Gurnz. In Spring 2007, after just 6 weeks of preparation, BOXeight Fashion Week had its first show at the Los Angeles Theater. In Fall 2007, it moved to Vibiana LA, the newly restored Cathedral of Saint Vibiana

Cathedral of Saint Vibiana

The Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, often called St. Vibiana's, is a former cathedral church building and parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles...

. In 2008, it moved again, this time eastward to BOXeight's headquarters on the fringe of downtown's warehouse district, which added further patina to its independent street credibility.

With the help of various economic and industry forces, the success and notoriety of L.A. Fashion Week continues to rise. City of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

Antonio Villaraigosa

Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa , born Antonio Ramón Villar, Jr., is the 41st and current Mayor of Los Angeles, California, the third Mexican American to have ever held office in the city of Los Angeles and the first in over 130 years. He is also the current president of the United States Conference of...

has begun to recognize these efforts and connect with the fashion community. In October 2007 he recognized the contributions of the fashion industry with a compelling speech at the opening of the LA Fashion Awards, toured the BOXeight runway show venue at Vibiana, and visited the Designers & Agents trade show and the wholesale showrooms at the Cooper Design Space, New Mart and California Market Center. Early in 2008 the mayor's office briefly formed a committee to better harness and organize the energies of the loose consortium that has worked diligently to improve the reputation of Los Angeles as a fashion capital and the bottom lines of the businesses operating there.

Events

The main attraction of L.A. Fashion Week between 2003 and 2008 was Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios

Smashbox Studios

Smashbox Studios is a premier photo and film studio in Los Angeles that regularly hosts photo shoots, film shoots, and events for photographers, producers and celebrities.-History:...

. This was replaced in 2009 by a vibrant slate of fashion events at venues across L.A. Key events of Los Angeles Fashion Week include Gen Art's Avant Guardians (March) & Fresh Faces in Fashion (October), the Los Angeles Fashion Awards, BOXeight Fashion Week, Designers & Agents, Downtown LA Fashion Week and an array of individual designers who present their collections independently. In 2009 it also featured "Passion...Revealed", an event featuring both established and up-and-coming fashion designers.

Los Angeles Fashion District

The L.A. Fashion District is a business improvement district (BID) , funded by over 700 property owners. The Fashion District spans 90 blocks and is the hub of the apparel industry on the West Coast of the United States. 2008 also marked the beginning of "Belle Du Jour" (The Look of LA), an annual fashion show contributing toward the common goal of showcasing talented LA based fashion designers.

External links

www.thelookofla.com

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