Los Angeles Fashion Week: Stop Staring!
On March 15, Los Angeles designer Alicia Estrada kicked off the launch of Style Fashion Week Los Angeles, the latest fashion-show producer to join the Los Angeles Fashion Week Show.
The show was held at Vibiana, the former Catholic church turned event space in downtown Los Angeles. Before the runway show, guests mingled in the courtyard drinking mojitos and taking photos with the wax model of Lady Gaga on loan from Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in Hollywood.
Cynthia Ruiz, the head of the Los Angeles Department of Works and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s fashion ambassador, opened the show, praising Estrada’s Stop Staring! collection. Ruiz, like many in the crowd, was wearing Estrada’s vintage-inspired designs.
“The real reason I’m here is I’m a big fan of Stop Staring!” Ruiz said. “Alicia is the beauty and the brains of Stop Staring! What many of you don’t know is in 2005, she received an award from the mayor for minority manufacturer of the year.”
For her runway presentation, Estrada mixed some of her signature styles—curve-hugging sheath dresses, halter-topped swing dresses and flirty rompers—with new looks, including a pair of jewel-toned mini satin dresses and a finale gown in black burnout velvet.
Other highlights included a full-skirted swing dress in a cheery floral and a sexy black sheath dress accented wit faux fur. —Alison A. Nieder
