Fashioning the O.C. Look
California’s Orange County has often provided the inspiration for American pop culture—just think about Disneyland and the beginnings of the surf lifestyle. But can this area of more than 2 million people claim its own fashion look?
This was a question that Billy and Kari Stade tried to answer at the runway show celebrating the grand opening of their 3,000-square-foot boutique, The Closet, held Aug. 7 at Newport Beach’s ritzy Fashion Island shopping center.
Joining them were some of the leaders of Southern California’s new wave of fashion, including Pat Tenore, co-founder of RVCA; Ryan Heuser of Paul Frank Industries; and Mossimo Giannuli, who now owns Santa Monica–based Modern Amusement in addition to his Mossimo collection for Target.
Orange County companies—including Paul Frank, RVCA, Howe, Trovata, Ambiguous and Volcom—designed more than half the fashions on the runway. Much of the clothing ventured into the uncharted territory between sharp eveningwear for a hip nightclub and a grungy look inspired by nights of listening to punk-rock bands in Huntington Beach.
Trovata captured the spirit of the night with a jeans-inspired blazer matched with a T-shirt featuring a macabre skeleton. Ambiguous replied with a pinstriped suit that might have been inspired by motorcycle jackets.
Irvine-based Stussy took its streetwear for a 1970s-style spin with a khaki military-style jumpsuit. Queen of Ween by Madsteez, based in Costa Mesa, showed an imaginative angle on pop-art clothes with a mod dress made wild with graffiti art and images of animals out of an oil painting. L*Space, based in Santa Ana, continued in this pop-art vein with a bikini designed with the colors of a hip Latin jazz groove in mind.
Not all of the clothes featured had roots in Orange County. Los Angeles– based Ella Moss graced the stage with a suave gray longsleeved mini-dress, and Italian brand Diesel continued to stake its claim on premium denim. —Andrew Asch
