Sweet of Justin Timberlake to bring sexy back, but honey, from where I sit in slinky, sun-drenched, Southern California—where I'm from incidentally--sexy never left. Never will! LA's annual Fashion Week which ran Sunday through Thursday night ----the fab finale of Spring 2007 Collections---offered plenty of fashion refreshment even though I'm jet-lagged and truly weak at the knees with all the gorg stuff I saw in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. How appropros that LA fashion is sponsored by Mercedes Benz (did you expect Ford Pickup Trucks?) and held at the ever hip Smashbox Studios where all the celebs get photographed. It was in the 80s all week—which makes it easier to dream about next summer's clothes and how we'll photograph them in Marie Claire. So how small a world is show biz: Monday there's a show by Louis Verdad—whose clothes Madonna wore when she locked lips with Brittney during that meant-to-be-shocking MTV Awards moment…and then Tuesday sees the debut of the clothing line of Ex-Brittney boy, Mr. Sexy Back himself. Timberlake's line called William Rast is co-designed by a childhood friend Ayala and is anchored in that Hollywood staple DENIM…. Still there's also some nice Fifties style mini dresses Doris Day might have worn (in her more subversive moments) For the 600 lucky people on the list, Timberlake's collection really got the week rocking especially when post-show he popped next store for a raucous rockshow at Bl3. Did I mention that it's often hard to look at the clothes in this town with all the star power in the front row: At William Rast alone there was Cameron Diaz, Paris and Nicky Hilton, hunky Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey, fashion photog titan Mario Testino, rapper eve, and Maroon 5's Adam Levine--- all grooving to the beyond-cool soundtrack---which included Bowie's "rebel rebel" which opened the show? Thanks to Magda Berliner---whose cheeky vintage lace and table linen dresses we saw and loved last week in New York---we were tipped off to Jesse Kamm's collection-cum-pool party at the Avalon Hotel. Kamm's guests included Liz Goldwyn sipping mojitos while the Chapin sisters sang and strummed guitars and a set of pretty models just sat knitting! Mysterious! Meanwhile, Jesse Kamm is one of the COOLEST designers going in LA! Her strapless jumpsuits, bloomers (totally on point with designers like Stella McCartney, Stefano Pilati for YSL, and Marc Jacobs), and jumper dresses were printed with Panama-inspired kingfisher birds, beetles, and sunglasses. Her boyfriend apparently has some sort of eco retreat in Panama---so expect future collections to feature similar tropicalia. Also poolside was Katherine Azarmi Rose, uber-cool owner Kaviar and Kind a shop on Sunset Boulevard which is the place for one-of-a-kind delicious pieces---a truly well-edited designer assortment. Rose wow'ed us with the pave diamond encrusted whale necklace inspired by the birth of her daughter. Kaviar and kind located on sunset boulevard is THE place for "one" of a kind jewelry and a well-edited designer assortment. It's more like a museum than a store....and a celebrity stylist favorite! Jack Nicholson showed up at daughter Jennifer's show---fashionably or, should I say athletically, late as he was coming straight from his beloved Lakers game. Jennifer showed sassy baby doll dresses with a decidedly 80's rocabilly twist. In the city of Angels, about time a restaurant named Angelini Osteria ----which is fast becoming new Hollywood canteen. Surprised no paparazzi lurking as the night we were there so were Rachel Bilson and her new boy, Chad. It was all yum—and nice that it's quiet for now—unlike the press-saturated Il Sole on Sunset Plaza (which of course is still primo!) It's TOTALLY OK to namedrop in LA, so I will….while I was having lunch with Justine Bateman (yes, a nice girls lunch) at Urth Café in Venice Beach and she was filling me in on her new projects, we saw our favorite wedding crasher, Owen Wilson. Alas, he didn't see us and so never crashed our party… Meanwhile back at Smashbox, who do I see front row at the Bebe show but Mischa the Magnificent Barton who was featured in this season's Bebe ads. She's wearing a beatific black and white number from the new Bebe collection AND sporting bangs—the hairstyle of the moment!! Moshe, Bebe's marketing and manufacturing genius hired designer David Cardona to launch collection Bebe and it certainly made its mark with organza jumpsuits and sexy satin dresses with cinched-in waists. Like many designer runway shows these days, stylists are hired to give a final polish to a presentation---and in Bebe's case, Matt Goldman and Paula Bradley who help shape the looks of the Pussy Cat Dolls and Kellis worked their magic in the wings, and whipped up some sporty touches like gold belts and satin visors we saw so much of in Europe… Friday morning after a run on the beach where I passed indie film-maker Jim Jarmusch riding his bike...my LA retail reconnaissance continued on La Brea with both American Rag and the new iconology store: new reason to stroll the sunny strip! Wrapping up, would have to give a shout out to other fave shows like Frankie B whose famous low rise jeans help spark the trend. Designer Daniella Clarke has evolved her line to include swingy tent type dresses and skin tight jeans in zebra and snakeskin…she also hit on the metallic trend which was ubiquitous in this Spring collections in Europe and New York. This all goes to show that even though LA fashion means fun in the sun with a celebrity quotient that's off the charts, this city is serious about staking its claim as a legitimate fashion force. Yahoo for Hollywood! TRY AN ISSUE OF MARIE CLAIRE FOR FREE! [...] [...]
