Yes, Los Angeles is known mostly for its jeans designers; and yes, LA is swimming in sweatsuits and T-shirts lines; and sure, The City of Angels is scoffed at as casual fashion, not couture; but with threats like Richard Tyler, Louis Verdad and Petra Zillia, the fashion giants in New York and Europe are turning their heads towards Tinseltown to see what’s going on! LA now has its own fashion week that is getting noticed around the globe, and even though it does have it’s share of glowing reviews, there are criticisms that should be addressed. LA can’t be expected to be on the same caliber as New York, Milan, and Paris (not yet anyway), but the sun-soaked town is making great strides and becoming quite the cause of interest amongst those in the industry. People are not realizing that most of the designs created in Los Angeles are out of necessity and the designers are focused on function rather than theatrics. Sales, however are reflecting those very needs in other places as well. LA is reputed as being a “laid back” town and the clothes simply reflect that attitude. Los Angeles designers cater to the film industry and the celebrities that adorn the clothes (and not just during awards shows and premieres, but running around town shopping, lunching and going to the market).

The hottest, most paparazzi worthy celebrities are buying their clothes at stores such as Fred Segal, Lisa Kline and Tracy Ross (which all prefer Los Angeles-based designers). The celebrity stylists are pulling directly from not yet household name designers in LA for their famous clientele and for editorial. These celebs are then spotted in US Weekly, People, InTouch, and your very own LuxuryFashion.com and the rest of the fashion world is getting inspired by what they see. We all know about the fashion crazes in past seasons including Von Dutch hats and Juicy Couture sweatsuits.  These super hot fads are starting in LA. With celebrities, not super-models gracing the covers of the worlds leading magazines, it’s no wonder that it’s the stars that are dictating to the consumer public what to buy. Liz Claiborne bought Juicy Couture for somewhere in the amount of $132,000,000. This kind of purchase makes the world take notice. So laugh if you want, but LA designers are laughing all the way to the bank. It would be fair to say that even though casual wear is predominant in LA that doesn’t mean that high fashion and couture isn’t making a huge splash and seen on the red carpets of the Golden Globes, Academy Awards and The Grammy’s. Designers like Richard Tyler and Monique Lhuillier both have a huge presence at the awards shows.

A lot of the hoopla surrounding LA fashion right now is the fact that the city just became a “fashion port” (as Tyra Banks called it on an interview on The Early Show).  The same producers of New York's Fashion Week (Seventh on Sixth, IMG) have brought their talents to Los Angeles, teaming up with Mercedes Benz and Smashbox studios. The week isn’t without its problems (mainly with parking!), but overall, it’s been a smash success. Criticism is to be expected, but the success of LA Fashion Week is sealed and it’s not going anywhere.

Law’ren Sample, a Los Angeles based stylist who has worked with celebrities Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Lui has this to say about LA Fashion Week: “When I go to a fashion show, it’s like going to a Brent Bolthouse party”. Brent Bolthouse, of course, is a popular club promoter in LA with a huge celebrity following. She feels that the front row as well as the catwalk at the shows are about the celebs (not always A-list), while the stylists and editors are often given the second row.  “Who the f*ck is Bobby Trendy?” Law’ren says referring to the 2Bfree fashion show last October.  She makes a good point stating that the editors are the ones that can do some good for the designer, while Bobby Trendy is an interior designer that got a little bit of fame when he worked with Anna Nicole-Smith decorating her home, and can’t do squat for the designer. This, however, is mainly the fault of the show’s producers and publicists. The Conde-Nast and Time editors in New York aren’t yet coming out for the LA shows, so the publicists are giving priority to even B and C-list celebs rather than the LA editors and stylists. Fashion shows all across the globe are becoming star struck and big stars in the front row are becoming quite the status symbol for any designer.  Stars are also gracing the runways to gain more press for labels. So, of course, it’s expected that LA, too, needs to have the celebrity endorsement as it were. The publicists just need to be a bit more savvy when it comes to seating and their knowledge of editors and stylists.

Another point that gets brought up often is the fact that so many of the collections that are showing are T-shirt, jeans, and track-suits lines. Should the powers that be scrutinize a little more when deciding on those that can participate? Yes and no; this is a tough call. Remember, the bread-and-butter of the LA fashion commerce is casual, so they are not to be snubbed. The problem is most people that go to fashion shows want to be dazzled and entertained. The couture and high fashion designer such as YA-YA and Jenni Kayne rely on their designs to do the wowing (and they don’t disappoint). Casual wear has a tougher time of holding an audience. How many different ways can we see a pair of sweats, or jeans or a t-shirt sashaying down the catwalk? With exception of Rock and Republic (who always puts on a great, energetic show), casual is boring. Ashley Paige (knit bikini designer) shows during October shows and always puts on one of the sexiest, hottest shows seen anywhere. Her (somewhat cynical) response to criticisms of LA fashion is “LA Fashion, fashion, bo bashion, banana fana fo fashion, fi figh mo mashion…fashion.  It’s just clothes!” 

With that said, Fashion Week LA seems to be sticking around and getting bigger over the seasons. This October, all the usual suspects turned out fantastic shows: Eduardo Lucero, Pegah Anvarian, Kevan Hall, Juan Carlos Obando, Louis Verdad, and Sue Wong.  It’ll take some time, but with designers like these, we’ll get by without the theatrics of Europe, the stuffiness of New York and remain fun and crazy in LA and still gain the respect of the rest of the fashion world.