If you’re a person who loves fashion and has a soft spot for kittens, Los Angeles Kitten Fashion Week is the show for you! Hosted at the fabulous Standard Hotel in the heart of Los Angeles, Kitten Fashion Week was a fresh new venue for emerging International designers. The event was created by designer and publisher Mike Vensel as a new alternative for up and coming designers who seek exposure, but lack a budget. "By sponsoring designers, we give new opportunities to designers who otherwise would not be able to participate in a traditional fashion week forum" he said. Not only did the show sponsor the designers, but a portion of the ticket sales will be donated to KITTEN RESCUE, www.kittenrescue.org
The show was a mix of emerging and established designers for a group of events that stimulated the viewer and opened their minds to new designers and new markets. In association with the generous sponsor’s, Fiji water, Chapman, American Apparel, MAC cosmetics and many more, Kitten Fashion Week was organized into three days of shows, which was a welcomed addition to Los Angeles Fashion Week. Each day hosted four designers of unique style. The Friday night presentations showcased four diverse designers.
The first of the evening was Krelwear Designs. The Miami based designer, Karelle Levy, presented her Fall 2007 collection of Haute Couture titled "Little Red in the Hood" featuring "toobular" knit designs. She focuses on two product lines, one being made-to-order, and the other one-of-a-kind designs. The products range from sweaters, dresses, skirts and tanks to accessories such as hats, scarves, leg warmers and cuffs. The use of bright colors such as orange and lime green were a nice contrast to her prominent use of grays and neutrals. Her line has a clean-cut, finished look, while still adhering to her distinct dynamic style: mixing unique textile designs with minimalism and innovative shapes. She knits her own fabrics, finding inspiration in the process and works with rare vintage yarns from textile factories no long in production. One nice perk for attending her show, was a pair of knit leg warmers for each attendee. You can find her designs at Fred Segal, or online at www.krelwear.com.
Karelle paired her designs on the runway with Bastion accessories by Ramona Boucher. Her exaggerated rings of scultured metal atop huge stones of turquoise, tiger-eye, red-quartz and jasper gold were a captivating accent to her collection. Shoes by Bastion were immense platform heals and wedges of various dynamic colors.
The next designer was from Denmark. All collections for Copenhagen Kasbah are designed by 29-year-old Tim Meicker, who also established the company. Tim has work experience from several renowned Danish fashion companies. The collections are exclusively sold wholesale to retailers and departments stores. The style is classic and balances the avant-garde with aesthetics. The start collection is available in shops from spring 2006. The new collection for autumn/ winter 2007-08 captures the spirit of the kasbah style and features beautiful knitwear with pointelle pattern in a soft mohair fabric, as well as styles influenced by a Kasbah signature: the harlequin argyle pattern. The collection consists of sophisticated and simple styles that are easy to wear and combine. Contrasts and dualism that is the heart of Copenhagen Kasbah were also seen in the silk baggy pants with tie shut legs and pants with galloon stripes and fabric covered buttons. www.Copenhagenkasbah.com
The third designer of the evening was Tatiana Yekymova, from Ukraine. Her entire collection was the most unique of the evening. This designer has spent years inventing and developing a proprietary technology to create her fantastic designs using satin, Bisser and diamonds. Each piece is completely made by hand from start to finish. Her inspiration comes from artists such as Dali, Picasso, Van Gogh, and Klimt who truly loved and appreciated female beauty. The use of bold colors in both fabric and beading truly made these exquisite garments stand out. Many pieces were accessorized with matching leg adornments, arm cuffs, visors, and large necklaces, each completely hand beaded, to create a perfectly finished look. Yekymova can be contacted at [email protected]
The final and most heavily attended show of the evening was Suh-tahn Designs, by Shannon Nataf of France and Dimitri Tcharfas of Russia. Their philosophy is realized with the help and balance of natural and man made forces. They believe "consciousness and spirituality plays a great key in understanding the concept and the vision, while nature and our current state of being gives us direction forward." The focus of this collection was elegant casual, with repeated use of leather, latex, tight pants, hoodies and dresses. The color palate ranged from black, gray, khaki, blue and white. The line has a very modern, realist feel for both men and women. For as far removed from Los Angeles, geographically, as they are, they have been able to portray their European-based style and transformed it to fit into the cutting edge style that is LA. For further information contact [email protected].
Other designers showing at Kitten Fashion Week were:
Mike Vensel www.mikevensel.com
Lauren Alexander www.laurenalexanderdesigns.com
Pudel www.pudel.co.uk
Ziji www.ziji.us
Octavio Carlin www.octaviocarlin.com
Lorun www.loruncollection.com
The Battalion www.battalionarmour.com
KushCush by Kerry Cushman www.kushcush.com
www.kittenfashionweek.com
PHOTO CREDIT: fashionstock.com
HELLO IM PETYA…..I WAS WONDERING IF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY MODELING JOBS FOR NEW DESEIGNERS. THANK YOU MY EMAIL IS [email protected]
YOU CAN CONTACT ME ON THAT EMAIL ADRESS