L.A. Fashion Week Spring 2011: Anthony Franco, Skingraft and Ashton Michael
Lighting was dramatically dark at the ornate Exchange Los Angeles nightclub, but the imagination and promise of avant-garde fashions broke through the shadows Oct. 20, when designers Ashton Michael, Skingraft and Anthony Franco exhibited their Spring 2011 collections.
These designers were united by their devotion to idiosyncratic looks and unique fabrics. Skingraft designer Jonny Cota showed 24 looks. He started Skingraft as a label best known for one-of-a-kind fashions, but he estimated two-thirds was ready-to-wear, which featured items such as fitted leather jackets, draped harem pants and leggings. With another first, he also estimated that half of his collection’s looks were intended for men.
Ashton Michael showed 20 looks made out of eco-friendly fabrics such as bamboo, Tencel and PET fabric made out of recycled plastic bottles. The looks were inspired by military, bondagewear and androgyny. “I’m bringing masculinity back to femininity,” he said of his Spring 2011 collections.
Anthony Franco displayed 35 looks—17 men’s and 18 women’s looks. The inspiration was casualwear from the 1930s, but the emphasis was on fashions that will make a scene, such as hand-knit bathing suits with tassels on them, strapless dresses with built-in corsets, intricately embroidered tops and sweaters with Op-Art designs.—Andrew Asch
