L.A. Fashion Week Fall '07: Lauren Alexander
San Diego–born Lauren Alexander’s Los Angeles Fashion Week debut did not go as planned. Her March 15 show at Kitten Fashion Week in The Standard Downtown started 1 and a half hours late. The show’s background music went out halfway through the show, leaving spectators listening only to the clomping of high heels and the clicks of cameras.
An enthusiastic crowd compensated by filling the dead air with some cheers and applause for the designer’s Fall looks, which featured short black silk dresses and jumpsuits with big brass zippers, racer-back dresses blending stark yellow with black and deep purple and black. Key pieces included a two-tone off-the-shoulder dress and some geometric black coats.
Alexander designed the collection to transition from day to evening or, as she put it, from flip-flops to sling-backs.
Aside from a brief stint at the Academy of Art, Alexander is, for the most part, self-taught. She got a break in her first season when Lucky magazine featured her collection. The designer also has her own in-house focus group formed by a bevy of fashion-discerning sisters. —Robert McAllister
