L.A. Elegance
There are worse ways to spend a late, sunny morning in Los Angeles than at a designer atelier viewing elegant gowns, dresses and evening ensembles while sipping orange juice and snacking on fresh fruit. And some lucky people got to do just that on June 18 when designer Kevan Hall presented formal/informal showings of his Fall/Holiday 2002 collection at his Beverly Boulevard studio. Hall, whose design career has spanned both coasts and included a stint heading up design at Halston, opened the studio last year.
“It’s sort of an ode to [artist] Gustav Klimt,” the designer said of his inspiration this season. “You’ll see swirls, things peppered in gold, beading,” he continued, adjusting a shoulder here, pulling down a sleeve there and explaining each piece as his models came out. The intimate setting allowed the designer to interact one-on-one with his guests and with his collection.
“This was actually a skirt,” he said in reference to a dazzling bronzy cowl-neck top swirled with sparkling beads.
Hall mixed elegance with easiness in his use of stretch-silk charmeuse on long, flared pants and pairing them with tops including a lightweight cashmere off-the-shoulder sweater with mink cuff and a sheer draped-waist blouse with trumpet sleeves—a seemingly signature silhouette that ran throughout the collection in different variations and fabrications.
His dresses, skirt ensembles and gowns carried the same award, from cocktail looks—including a “Sabrina” dress in classic black taffeta (the dress was also shown in a cheetah print) and a pretty aubergine off-the-shoulder dress in doubled matte jersey and iridescent taffeta—to all-out Oscar style as represented by a navy blue silk gown with delicate beaded lace insets that may just find its way to the red carpet. —Joselle Yokogawa
