L.A. Fashion Week Takes Shape
Plans for Los Angeles Fashion Week in March are starting to shape up as a vibrant affair. A new entry, Style Fashion Week LA, will be holding four days of runway shows at Vibiana, an 1885 structure that was once a Catholic cathedral in downtown Los Angeles.
The March 15–18 event will kick off with a yet-to-be named celebrity designer, said Veronica Welch, one of the principals in Style Fashion Week, based in Miami, where the company has coordinated runway events for several designers, including Oscar de la Renta, who recently had a show at Neiman Marcus in Palm Beach, Fla.
Style Fashion Week LA will also include a Red Dress Fashion Show with celebrity models. Proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association, Welch said.
Mikey Koffman, who has been holding L.A. Fashion Weekend at the Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood since October 2009, recently announced plans to expand her three-day format this year to a week.
Other fashion-week events include Project Ethos, which will host runway shows on March 12 at the Avalon in Hollywood; Concept LA Fashion Week in downtown Los Angeles; and Simply Stylist.Fashion Los Angeles on hold
Meanwhile, an ambitious, high-profile Los Angeles Fashion Week event set to bow in February has been shelved for now, with plans to hold a series of smaller monthly events instead.
Michael Venedicto, co-organizer of the planned Fashion Los Angeles event, split with his business partner, Jeff Warrington, in November. “The dissolution of my partnership had a great impact on my business,” Venedicto said.
Instead of a week of fashion shows, Venedicto said, he now will be promoting Los Angeles fashion labels with monthly events that will range from trunk shows and community-oriented gatherings to fashion installations. “It will be brand-centric and change month to month,” he said.
By next September and October, when designers start showing their Spring labels, he will do something more flashy. He hopes to keep Fashion Los Angeles alive and debut it in February 2012.
Fashion Los Angeles plans called for a week of runway shows with 65 designers and a “Fashion Village” of temporary structures for runway shows and pop-up installations.—Deborah Belgum
