L.A. Fashion Week, summer camp for style sickos

Fashion weeks are like summer camps for style sickos. Especially this year’s L.A. Fashion Week, because every event happened at one single location: the W Hotel. You got to see your friends walk a show, or run into a stylist or press rep that you had to do a quick Google Image confirmation on because you only ever communicated with them via email. “You’re [enter name here], right? I’m Julissa, from Image. Yes, it is so good to meet you in person. What part of town are you in? Coffee soon?” On a loop, all week.

LAFW has had the reputation of being the underdog of fashion weeks in global cities, but its president, Ciarra Pardo, is focused on creating a new legacy. L.A. deserves something of its own that is reflective of its relationships and desires, says Pardo, whose company N4XT Experiences acquired LAFW in 2022. “What it hadn’t been doing was really celebrating Los Angeles,” Pardo says of fashion week’s past, pointing to a new kind of programming that is reflective of fashion’s relationship to the growing number of tech and beauty companies moving into L.A., and the city’s sustainable aspirations. There’s also an energy that feels less rooted in tradition than in moving toward openness and experimentation.

Read more: The New York Fashion Week digicam diaries: It’s 2006 again, baby

“We really support our designers and brands to have a more free-flowing approach, so they don’t have to go by traditional means whatsoever,” says Pardo. “They can show in a traditional runway format, they can show in a presentation, they can do incredible pop-up activations.” Brands including Rio, Private Policy, Priscavera, Theophilio, 424 and Ed Hardy participated in a number of shows, pop-ups and events throughout the week. Photographer, artist, musician and diva Tyler Matthew Oyer and I popped around the scene, where Oyer captured moments backstage and on the runway that reverberated with heat and intimacy.

Nike Sport X Style Studio

The Nike Sport X Style Studio, creative directed by Image’s fashion director at large Keyla Marquez, served as a soft landing spot during the week, billowing with printed organza and metallic curtains, and the enveloping aroma of a Diptyque Oud candle filling every corner of the room. The space was created in celebration of a new Nike collection, with campaign photos styled by Marquez and shot by Thalía Gochez meeting you as soon as you walked in. It featured a styling suite, where Marquez styled special guests and athletes in the new collection, along with custom pieces she made in collaboration with Sailor D. Gonzales and Rusty Reconstructed. There were three workshops led by artist and jewelry designer Georgina Treviño, and for the rest of the week LAFW attendees could be spotted with the pierced Nike bags and shoes they made under her guidance.

On Thursday night, the Nike Sport X Style Studio hosted a party where Elias Lopez, a.k.a. Niño Genesis, DJ’d and I experienced the most insane charcuterie board — no, charcuterie table — I’ve ever seen in my life. (I put an entire persimmon in my purse for later — shout-out persimmon season.)

Ed Hardy 

As someone who regards “quiet luxury” as a kind of plague (I’m bored!) — also as someone whose childhood was punctuated by paparazzi photos of early aughts celebs wearing printed and bedazzled Ed Hardy T-shirts, trucker hats and jeans — I was excited for this deeply L.A. moment. Y2K has been here and is on the precipice of leaving again (let’s be honest) so why not lean into it heavy one last time? The clothes were what you would expect in the best way possible: Classic Ed Hardy, with a twist on silhouette that felt extremely of the moment (maybe because this moment and 2004 are kind of the same moment, culturally speaking). The runway opened with the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s “Maps,” my low-lift karaoke song forever, and featured tops made entirely of Ed Hardy patches, low-rise embellished pinstripe pants and boxing shorts dancing with tassels up the side. The delulu part of my brain kept waiting for Lindsay Lohan or Nicole Richie to be the models closing the show. That didn’t happen, but I did spot musician Pete Wentz in the crowd along with Leah Kateb from “Love Island.”

Theophilio 

Theophilio closed the week with a part-party, part-runway show. Standing-room only, a DJ playing throwies from Sean Paul, a bar serving $25 drinks and seeing everyone you know made it feel like we were clubbing in L.A. But the room was clearly thick with a lot of love and anticipation for Theophilio creative director Edvin Thompson’s always sensual, elegant and sometimes irreverent vision. Models purposefully walked down the runway in flowing suits of crushed velvet and satin, matching leather mini-shorts and jackets, sequined hot pants and tank top sets in yellow smiley graphics and graffiti print. Looks were styled with exaggerated hats, including an oversized leather newsboy cap with eyelets, and a white baseball cap transformed to sculptural effect with white feathers.

Gazing upon the models strutting final looks on the highest floor of the W Hotel, with Hollywood Boulevard and the hills twinkling in the background, felt like a fitting reminder of where we were in space and time: L.A., the future.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.