L.A. Fashion Week Spring 2010: Jen Awad
Most designers don’t materialize on the runway surface until the fashion show finale. Multi-hyphenate designer/singer/songwriter/guitarist Jen Awad, on the other hand, played a live concert with her rock band, The Great Entity, as the models walked down the runway wearing her creations.
The Unknown Theater’s rough-around-the-edges black-box performance space in Hollywood set a juxtaposing gritty backdrop to Awad’s sophomore collection, which opened with a parade of neon-pink, girly and babydoll dresses adorned with bows and ruffles. The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising graduate called her Spring 2010 line “Eliza Doolittle meets ’I Dream of Jeannie.’” Wings of chiffon flapping from the shoulders of a fitted tangerine dress and overlaid on long gowns had a retro glamour. The same chiffon frills hanging from the front pockets of skin-tight pants took on a glitzy Elvis-like flair. Though Awad said she was aiming for “very clean, very elegant,” her rocker take on the notion of cocktail attire seemed like her true nature. That meant raising hemlines to the highest point, adding cutouts to otherwise prim shift dresses and adapting the men’s tuxedo for the girls. One tuxedo version traded in pants for hotshorts, and another employed the pleated tuxedo placket down the front of a pencil skirt.—Rhea Cortado
