When LA Fashion Week rolls around this month, it's likely to attract an ambitious crew of self-made bloggers, striving stylists, and upstart designers fresh from FIDM. But the event hasn't always been so clearly about the clothes-10 years ago, LA staged the first in a series of runway events at which the famous faces in attendance sometimes outshone the fashion.
In March 2004, fashion show producer IMG and Smashbox Cosmetics founders Dean and Davis Factor debuted the first Mercedes-Benz Los Angeles Fashion Week at Culver City's Smashbox Studios, where Academy Award nominees including Angela Bassett, Dustin Hoffman, Owen Wilson, and Jared Leto held court in the front row. The next few seasons attracted equally glossy guest lists; even Vogue editor Anna Wintour turned up in 2005 to host a glittering party for photographer Mario Testino and take in the Louis Verdad runway show.
Despite its auspicious start, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week's LA run was brief. By October 2008, the novelty had worn off and the number of Oscar winners, boldface buyers, and Condé Nast staffers in the front row had dwindled. As such, leading labels like Jenni Kayne, Corey Lynn Calter, and Juan Carlos Obando moved their shows to the New York runways. IMG pulled out of LA after that season, but SoCal's style profile has nevertheless continued to grow. LA-based designers are being tapped to head up international brands-think Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent Paris and Jeremy Scott for Moschino. The city has become a hub for fashion-centric tech companies.
LA Fashion Week, meanwhile, has evolved into a tapestry of eclectic events showcasing the work of designers both established and on the brink. These sartorial celebrations-including this month's Style Fashion Week at L.A. Live (March 9-13), and the Simply Stylist conference at The Grove (March 15)-prove that the city's fashion faithful still know how to party. 'We are not trying to be New York,' says Style Fashion Week co-founder Veronica Welch. '[LA has its] own style, talented designers, great manufacturers, and tons of celebrities.... Why would designers not want to show [here]?'
PHOTOGRAPHY BY VINCE BUCCI/GETTY IMAGES
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