L.A. Fashion Week Spring '06: HelenO
Designer Helen Olds played with contrasts for her HelenO line, which bowed Oct.21 at the P.KaBu shows.
The Oakland, Calif.–based designer first drew on her bridalwear background to create tailored, structured clothing, then branched into jersey to create fluid wrap dresses, layered and tiered skirts and draped and wrapped tops. Looks on the runway ranged from demure suits with precious details like ruffles and bows to backless jersey halter tops and flirty lace skirts.
At times, the designer opted for whimsical conversation prints in bright, cheerful shades. A pink and green sateen tunic worn as an ultra-short minidress featured a fish print, and faces created the pattern on the “nice smile” halter dress.
She layered sheer jersey solids over stripes for skirts and topped a bustle skirt and tee with a cropped metallic vest. Some of her best pieces included her “rising-sun” bottoms with a sunray tucked pattern that extended from a back yolk to wrap around the leg of slouchy trousers or around the side seam of a crisp short skirt.
This marks the first season for the HelenO collection but a return to the L.A. market for Olds, whose previous collection was called Shoc. —Alison A. Nieder
