L.A. Fashion Week Spring '04: Monah Li
Monah Li returned to Los Angeles Fashion Week on Oct. 31 at Mercedes-Benz Shows L.A. with a collection that showed off the Los Angeles designer’s deft eye for color and her talent for combining vintage and new fabrics to create an exotic street urchin–chic look.
Abandoning the traditional runway format—“to be different”—Li, one of the original founders of the Coalition of Los Angeles Designers, presented a collection of ultra-edgy outfits on professional models. The designer, who has been known to use only nonprofessional models in her shows to demonstrate how “real women” can wear her clothing, did enlist a few friends to model some of the pieces.
Patchwork tanks, bustiers and cardigans paired with wrap dresses and layered skirts characterized Li’s rough aesthetic, which included models with only ropes or strips of fabric tied to their bare feet. Dangling ribbons and fishnet stockings completed the deconstructed look. Most outfits featured multiple bright colors—including tangerine, crimson and teal—that were sometimes used in harmony and other times in dramatic contrasts. The patched, layered and appliqueacute;d designs and the multicolored palette suggested both traditional Indian attire and a band of futuristic wanderers. A standout piece was a fitted jacket in distressed red leather that was paired with a ruched satin dress.
“I design what I want to wear,” said Li. —Christian M. Chensvold
