The Rules of Opposites Attracting
The old clicheacute; “opposites attract” typically refers to relationships. The Los Angeles design duo behind the label We Are Lucid Dreaming bets that rule also applies to fashion.
Trang Chau and Anh Co Tran combine the organic designs of nature with the harsh, synthetic looks of punk rock. The crowd assembled at their second runway show, held April 17 at “The Champagne Catwalk” fashion brunch series at El Cid Restaurant in the Silverlake section of Los Angeles, heartily applauded these opposites.
The crowd reaction was a vote of approval for bohemian fashion—Chau and Tran’s inspirations are decidedly off-the-beaten-path. “Originally, we were looking at insects and patterns of nature,” Chau said of the building-block ideas for the collection.
Green beading reminiscent of octopus tentacles covers the shoulders and pockets of one jacket. Another jacket, called “Amphibian,” features back vents and a long tail.
Like many other Los Angeles designers, Chau and Tran rip apart articles of clothing and reconstruct them into something else. Women’s suits, for example, are made from men’s dress shirts. The skinny lapels on the jackets hearken back to the punk look of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Chau, a fine arts graduate of the Otis College of Art and Design, and Tran, a fashion graduate from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, sell their line at Scout, located on the corner of Fairfax Avenue and Third Street. The designers will hold their first trunk show at the boutique on April 29. For Spring 2005, they will introduce a men’s line. —Andrew Asch
