admin L.A. Fashion Week third season of shows Oct. 8-12. It was prominent for the number of international brands in the mix including Luooif Studio, Lower, Kanapot Aunsorn and Renim. An event organizer Arthur Chipman said “On the fashion scene, a lot of brands look at L.A. as a great PR play, a conversation starter.” He further added “The cool kids are in L.A., so it really helps all these brands coming in from Australia and all these other places.”
Coral Castillo, whose Oct. 11 runway show was sponsored by the accounting firm Moss Adams, longtime presenter of the Moss Adams Fashion Innovator Award, which comes with $5,000 worth of consulting services. “The [MAFI] is given to a designer who has done something innovative with respect to fashion and design over the past year,” said the firm’s Martin Hughes in presenting the award before the runway show. “And this year’s designer certainly deserves that award with her edgy and bold yet beautifully feminine designs.”
The designer said her most recent spring and summer 2020 collection was inspired by classical mythology. “I love how Greek people portrayed women. If you see the goddess Nike, she’s a woman and she’s beautiful and she’s the goddess of victory and strength and everything that is glorious. Think of the [Winged Victory of Samothrace] sculpture — I wanted to bring that to the runway. I want women to feel beautiful and strong and powerful and feel like they can conquer the world if they want to.”
The next day, the scene shifted 64 miles north to a rural patch of land in Ventura County, where L.A.-based designer Heidi Merrick presented her first full runway collection framed by grassy hills. “This place calms me. I become more myself when I’m here,” the designer said of the 55-acre mix of orchards, forestland and sage-filled fields outside of Ojai. “And it gives me the inspiration to go back and do stuff.”
On Oct. 13, the focus was on downtown L.A. Equality Fashion Week gala — organized to honor and uplift the LGBTQIA2S community — which took place at the Globe Theatre and where Allison K. Joseph of August Brave received the emerging designer award. “From designers, hair and makeup artists to models, we created a platform for members of our community to shine and increase visibility,” event organizer Nik Kacy, a shoe designer and nonbinary queer activist, told The Times. “Having a safe space with inclusion and diversity is our mission, because through exposure and visibility is where understanding and acceptance comes from.”
The other big event was the first-ever fashion show from streetwear brand the Hundreds in collaboration with a collective of indigenous-owned labels called Obsidian, which took place on the front steps of City Hall as part of the city’s official Indigenous Peoples Day celebration.
On Oct. 17, Art Hearts Fashion picked up the mantle, kicking off a four-day slate of runway shows and art installations at the Majestic Downtown that marked the group’s 13th season presenting shows in the City of Angels. The occasion was noted by the office of L.A. City Councilman José Huizar, which issued a certificate of recognition — presented before the night’s first runway show — to organizer Erik Rosete for the group’s “contribution to the cultural diversity and economic contribution to the city of Los Angeles.” That was followed by the runway show of Charbel Zoe, who hails from Lebanon and whose glitz-and-glamour gowns have been seen on the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Nicki Minaj. His runway collection served up plenty of red carpet-worthy looks, many festooned with intricate beading and embroidery. The stunner of Zoe’s collection was a gown with a bodice of beaded flames and a voluminous skirt of red tulle that’s almost certainly destined for a future awards-show red carpet.
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