L.A. style may still conjure up visions of Pamela Anderson in “Baywatch” red. But from the high glamour of the Oscars to the casual chic of Melrose Avenue, the Los Angeles look now rivals New York, Paris and Milan. An ever-growing community of high-end designers is recycling the metaphors of Left Coast life into clothes that everyone else wants. Joining pioneers Richard Tyler and BCBG Max Azria are some new scene stealers: Katayone Adeli, with her skinny pants fit for ingenues; Pamela Dennis, who creates sleek gowns that evoke Hollywood’s golden age; Trina Turk, with a hip take on a preppy look that’s straight from “Friends,” and Imitation of Christ, whose offbeat esthetic has an indie-movie eccentricity.
Even Tom Ford–the creative force behind Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent–concedes that Los Angeles is “a major source of inspiration.” Ditto Giorgio Armani, who has said that if he were starting out now, he would head for L.A. If he did, he’d be joining promising newcomers like Jenisa Washington, who is getting recognition for a feminine, tailored take on leather and suede. Other rising stars: Magda Berliner, who says her clothes are made to look as though each piece came together by “happenstance”; RH Vintage and Henry Duarte, who celebrate arena-rock style, and Rick Owens and Michelle Mason, both known for conceptual Gothic creations.
The L.A. look is the essence of casual with a heavy dose of attitude, and that’s just what customers want right now. Stores across the country report that more and more of their most popular merchandise come from California. Julie Gilhart, vice president of fashion merchandising at Barneys, says that in the last few years she has doubled the number of buyers she’s sending to L.A., and has quadrupled the number of L.A. designers represented in her stores. “Five years ago, being an L.A. designer was meaningless,” she says. “Now when you say you’re an L.A. designer, it means you’re someone to contend with.”
California is changing not just the way Americans dress, but also the way fashion is marketed and sold. There are no big runway shows –so important in New York and Paris–but local designers say they do fine without them. The red carpet at the Oscars or a celebrity testimonial (think Sarah Jessica Parker and her Blahniks) is more influential. “I think for most of the designers you have out here,” says stylist Phillip Bloch, “their sales are driven because celebrities wore their clothes, not because they had a big runway show or some editor used them in Mademoiselle.” Take, for example, Trina Turk, who hardly needs a runway when her clothes make frequent appearances on hits like “Friends” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” “I would rather spend $150,000 on developing my next line than putting on a show,” says Turk. New York seems to be taking notice. Last month, big names like Donna Karan, Vera Wang and John Bartlett all canceled scheduled runway shows in New York. But you can bet that no one passes on the chance to dress Julia.
