Los Angeles Fashion Week: Kevan Hall Closes LA Fashion Week
From the AP:
The main tent at Smashbox Studios was transformed into a starry midnight sky for the final show of Los Angeles Fashion Week, as designer Kevan Hall unveiled his ethereal collection of spring dresses.
Floaty and feminine creations defined the line, which included silver sequined pants, sparkly tops with kimono sleeves and flowing, floor-length gowns sure to be seen on Hollywood’s red carpets.
The former Halston designer already counts Renee Zellweger, Debra Messing and Felicity Huffman among his formalwear fans. Actresses Virginia Madsen and Kerry Washington are apparently fans, too: They had front-row seats for the Thursday night show.
Grammy-winning singer Jody Watley was the first to walk the runway. Wearing a creamy satin top and floor-skimming black skirt, she sang a refrain of her song “Aquarius” to open the show.
Then came a smattering of short shorts, which Hall paired with beaded blouses or cropped jackets. There were also slim-fitting slacks, including a black-and-white lace pair with a matching blazer that brought new elegance to the pantsuit.
But Hall’s designs are really all about dresses, and they made up the bulk of the “Dusk to Dawn” spring collection.
“I looked to the heavens for inspiration,” he said in a statement.
It showed. Airy dresses in silk, tulle, jersey and chiffon were made for movement.
“The fabrics this season really excite me,” Hall said. “They are as light as clouds and fluid as rain.”
The palette ranged from classic black and white to violet, coral, yellow and sea green — picking up on some of the accent colors that were on the runways of evening designers last month in New York. There also were touches of beading and rhinestone shine, including a noteworthy silver metallic minidress with beads at the neck and hem, and a purple pleated frock with a rhinestone belt that looked party-ready, as did a bubble dress of black tulle and white silk, nipped at the waist with a slim black belt.
And Hall’s evening gowns inspire serious dress envy.
A white silk jersey dress was stunning in its simplicity: floor-length with a thigh-high slit and plunging V-neck, accessorized with a silver chain belt. A strapless, goddess-style gown looked fresh in hand-painted green and yellow chiffon. Another came in teal, with jewels accenting its empire waist. The show-stealer was a black taffeta strapless gown that was pleated from top to bottom.
After the elegant display of 44 outfits, the dreadlocked Hall looked almost underdressed in jeans and a denim blazer as he walked the runway with Watley.
L’Oréal Fashion Week: October 16-21, 2006
L’Oreal Fashion Week for the Spring 2007 Collection starts on October 16, 2006 in Toronto in a revamped MUZIK building (on the grounds of CNE).
19 Fashion Designers and 3 Fashion Brands are scheduled to showcase their Spring 2007 Collections. Such designers inclde: Pink Tartan, Arthur Mendonca, Paul Hardy, and David Dixon; Fashion Brands: French Connection, Fairweather, and Quicksilver.
For the first time, L’Oreal will present its spring beauty trends for 2007 in a spectacular runway extravaganza called Fragmented Time. Also for the first time, Ford of Canada and the Fashion Design Council of Canada in partnership with L’Oréal Fashion Week will choose three Canadian fashion designers to create an outfit inspired by the new 2007 Ford Edge.
L’Oréal Fashion Week in Toronto, formerly known as Toronto Fashion Week, is Canada’s most recognized fashion event.
Even though it’s only 11 seasons old, fashion week in Toronto steadily attracts Canadian designers from all over the country.
L’Oréal Fashion Week draws industry representatives from around the globe, and during the last five years have presented more than 100 up-and-coming and established Canadian fashion designers to international and Canadian media and buyers.
L’Oréal Fashion Week: Win An Outfit Created by a L’Oréal Fashion Week Designer
This was just posted on the L’Oréal Fashion Week site:
Ford of Canada and the Fashion Design Council of Canada in partnership with L’Oréal Fashion Week are have chosen three Canadian fashion designers to create an outfit inspired by the new 2007 Ford Edge.
Tell us which outfit is most inspired by the look and feel of the new Ford Edge and you could win an outfit created by a L’Oréal Fashion Week designer and an official L’Oréal Fashion Week Swag Bag (total combined value of over $5,000)*
*Canadian dollars, not American dollars.
For contest specifics, click here.
AP Report: Paris Fashion Week Kicks Off With No Plans to Ban Skinny Models
The Paris ready-to-wear shows kicked off on Sunday with the French fashion industry’s leading official saying he did not believe organizers should ban the use of models considered underweight.
Didier Grumbach, head of the Chambre Syndicale — the body that governs French fashion — said that he did not plan to follow in the footsteps of Spanish authorities in setting guidelines for the minimum weight of models who appear on the catwalks.
“I think it’s a non-issue. You don’t solve public health problems by regulating the size of models,” he told The Associated Press on Sunday. “You know, fashion is only the reflection of what is happening in society. It is not the cause.”
France’s Health Ministry recently announced it was setting up a working group on body image, with the aim of establishing a charter with advertisers banning the use of excessively thin models. Grumbach said he did not plan to take part in the government talks.
“I honestly think we are not responsible for health problems,” he said. “Let the Health Ministry take care of health problems, and let fashion designers choose models according to their taste.”
French designer Christophe Decarnin was certainly not in the mood to buck the prevailing appetite for super-skinny models.
His spring-summer collection for Balmain focused on mini dresses that reflected this season’s revival of body-conscious dressing, as epitomized by Azzedine Alaia and Gianni Versace in the 1980s.
Though only in his second season at the house, Decarnin made a splash by dressing French actress Audrey Tautou and American director Sofia Coppola at the Cannes film festival last May. The young Hollywood set should snap up his latest skimpy creations.
Australian model Gemma Ward, whose “alien” look has been a major fashion influence in the last two years, paraded in a thigh-skimming strapless dress in pleated olive chiffon that was fit for a modern-day Athena.
Grecian influences abounded, from the sunray pleating of a white chiffon dress to the multi-strapped leather platform sandals.
Military influences came in the shape of cropped khaki cargo pants and distressed T-shirts riddled with little holes — much like the one front row guest Lenny Kravitz was wearing.
“I think Paris is an incredibly inspiring city, so that’s why I’m spending a lot of time here,” said the rocker, who was taking in the show with his daughter Zoe.
For many fashion editors too, Paris is the highlight of the monthlong ready-to-wear collections, which have already steamed through New York, London and Milan.
The French capital is unique in allowing commercial juggernauts like Christian Dior and Chanel to coexist with conceptual designers like Martin Margiela and Yohji Yamamoto.
Margiela is a critics’ favorite despite refusing all media interviews. He stripped down the 1980s power woman to her undergarments, sending out his cast of non-professional models in flesh-colored bodystockings with bulky shoulderpads.
These “nude” tops, some featuring black applique circles over the breasts, were worn with tailored trouser suits with one leg scissored off. Sailor-striped jersey was fashioned into capelets and matching skirts.
Both ideas have been explored previously by Jean Paul Gaultier, with considerably more panache, but there is something admirable about Margiela’s uncompromising vision of female strength.
Paris has a history of defying prevailing ideals of beauty.
British designer John Galliano shocked fashion editors last year by showing his creations on giants, identical twins, fat women, old men and dwarves, in what some observers described as a “freak show.”
Gaultier, who this week celebrates 30 years in business, has been known to pluck his idiosyncratic models straight from the streets.
With more than 80 shows spread over eight days, the Paris show schedule this season is as packed as ever. Grumbach said an abundance of new names reflected the health of the sector.
“There has never been such strong interest in new brands and what is more interesting still is that they are not folding,” he said. “It simply reflects world growth, which has been obvious in the last few years, and which is being felt in fashion.”
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