L.A. Fashion Week Spring '08: Thirteen Minutes
Stylist Mike Sam previewed his debut line, English Clientele. Veteran designer Maggie Barry gave a taste of her Spring 2008 line. It was all part of the mix when Asian-American fashion and culture magazine Thirteen Minutes, based in Fountain Valley, Calif., produced its first fashion show on Oct. 19 at the swank nightclub Republic in Los Angeles.
The show was something of a “welcome back” for Barry. Her extracurricular activities—making costumes for rock group Van Halen and the TV show “Deal or No Deal”—have been taking up a lot of her time recently.
But her wardrobe gigs and her upcoming collection shared a couple of qualities. Both made use of discarded clothes to make new fashions. Barry described some looks as “surplus chic,” in which she used recycled parachute fabric and discarded collars from polo shirts to make dresses and bathing suits. She called other looks “summer of love.” They featured sequined eveningwear dresses, which were detailed with graphics of happy faces and patches depicting mermaids. “We normally do super-sexy dresses,” Barry said. “But we wanted to make this happy and fun.”
Sam is the fashion editor of Thirteen Minutes and also works as a stylist for celebrities such as America Ferrera. Sam’s first English Clientele collection will bow in January 2008. He previewed his collection with a 25-look show that incorporated everything from ballerina-inspired dresses to a Victorian jacket with fuchsia trim. Sam said that his label would also be distinguished by its sizing. Unlike many labels, he would not produce a size zero. Rather, sizes would range from a 2 to a 14. —Andrew Asch
