Los Angeles Fashion Week Spring 2002: Cornell Collins
Designers often look to the exotic and the voluptuous as their muse. Not Cornell Collins. In his fourth season, Collins drew inspiration from the petulant Nellie Oleson character from the 1970s TV show “Little House on the Prairie” for his show at the Audi Presents Designer Collections of Los Angeles Fashion Week event.
Why Nellie?
“A recent episode struck a chord with me in that she’s not necessarily a spoiled, bratty child,” Collins said. “I mean, she had all the gumdrops and nice clothes in the world. This is someone who is disturbed. So, the wheels started turning.”
The result? A line of 23 looks, which he describes as often “haphazard, dyslexic, and a little off.”
Collins departed from his signature solid creations by adding linen/cotton calico prints in a cropped pant, a jacket and a silk tulle overskirt.
An abundance of ruffles and smocking also shaped his designs from the demure skirts to the flamboyant prayer jacket and yoke blouse.
Sheer sleeveless and cap-sleeve tops in a mixture of black or ivory wool and silk tulle were another pervasive theme on the catwalk, often slit in the back and paired with floor-length taffeta skirts. Other standout touches included feathers sheathed in an organza skirt and a paneled silk taffeta gown. His piece de resistance was a strapless, silk taffeta gown gathered in a front rise reminiscent of a Frank Gehry building.
Collins said the showcase provided “an amazing opportunity” for up-and-coming designers, adding, “I don’t know if I would get this kind of coverage if I staged an independent show.”
The designer thinks the Audi Presents event may make the fashion cognoscenti rethink their attitudes about the West Coast.
“People have different views about Los Angeles, and after this day of shows, I think they’ll change for the better,” he said. —Nola Sarkisian-Miller
