L.A. Fashion Week dissolved, but did it ever really have a fighting chance? After a month of shows in New York, London, Milan, and Paris, editors and buyers don’t feel like going all the way to L.A. for more shows. Especially when the most anticipated ones are staged by the likes of Lauren Conrad and the Pussycat Dolls. And besides, buyers have usually spent everything in their budget by the time the Paris shows end. Smashbox, Mercedes Benz, and IMG have all pulled out as sponsors. Yet there exists in L.A. a group of L.A. Fashion Week alumni who believe passionately in the event and are trying to revive it, even though fewer than a dozen designers have expressed interest in showing at all. It hardly pays for them if no one important is there (and as great as it is to have Tori Spelling or P. Diddy on the front row, they won’t place large wholesale orders or put the clothes in Vogue). André Leon Talley went to L.A. Fashion Week, but looked miserable there, which arguably could have just been due to his insistence on wearing crocodile coats in the heat. But we have a feeling the Vogue editor just might agree with Rick Owens, who once said, “Get off your ass and go to Europe… [W]hy do they have to be a fashion capital? They’re the movie capital of the world and they’ve always been that, can’t they just be satisfied with that?” But Lauren, don’t take that as an invitation. Christian Audigier brings enough West Coast flavor for one season.
