See Your Image in the New-Fashioned Los Angeles Times

To be really fashionable in LA, you have to get your hands dirty.

You can read glossy magazines. You can surf the net until your wrists hurt. You can hit the streets and the shops to see what?s in store and what the Beautiful People are wearing.?

Or you can take your lead from the professionals. Get a Sunday newspaper and see how the times ? the Los Angeles Times ? have gone glam.

Not your parents? crusty old artifact, the Sunday Times has a new Image.?

The Image section is about fashion and a whole lot more.? It?s one big mirror reflecting the nuanced ways that Angelenos express themselves.? Image covers lifestyle trends, etiquette, shopping, the red carpet, couture, cheap-chic and more, enhanced by striking, artful photography.?

Image is LA?s newest source for professional, insightful reporting on the fashion statement, broadly defined.?

?There is no one who covers these areas with the depth and frequency that the Los Angeles Times does,? said Michalene Busico, The Times deputy features editor (and Image launch editor).

?We?ve assembled a staff with years of experience covering Hollywood style, the vibrant retail scene, our trend-setting surf and denim industries, the international runways and the endlessly inventive LA street scene. We will be about ?image? in every sense of the word.?

You may get newsprint on your fingers, but it?s a small sacrifice.

Image can be found in the Sunday paper beginning September 9.

Its new editor, Booth Moore, can be found back East.? She?s on assignment at New York Fashion Week, an eyewitness to the Spring 2008 fashion forecast.????

This is an insanely busy time for Moore.? From New York, she?ll cover fashion weeks in London, Paris and Milan, jet-setting to four cities in five weeks.

LA?s the Place spoke to Moore just before she took off for New York.

An Image of You

?LA is where Hollywood intersects with the real world, and the runway intersects with reality,? said Moore. ?The Times will report on all of that, but Image will also be a place where readers can see themselves at their most stylish.?

Like Your Own Stylist

?Image is going to be fun and practical.? It will have a section on do-it-yourself fashions and a column to respond to readers? problems with a specific purchase or issue.?

?It will tell you about sales, so you?ll want to keep it all week.? We?ll review and cover affordable, cheap-chic fashion, as well as high-end lines.

?Think of Image as your personal stylist.?

She?s Had Botox. What Do You Say?

?The section will also offer advice on image-related etiquette.? For example, is it appropriate to complement someone on the Botox treatment they?ve obviously had?? Do you say something nice or nothing at all?

?With features like theses, Image will become something that you?ll look forward to reading and talking about.?

Behind the Scenes at Fashion Shows
?It?s great to be in these wonderful cities, but you?re pretty busy.? You?re running all over town all day long, to four cities in five weeks.?

?The shows are every hour on the hour.? They start at 9 AM and the workday goes on until about 11 PM.

?Designers like to use creative spaces, so the shows are held all over.? It?s always an adventure.?

?You may have to jump out of a cab and sprint the last three blocks.? Sometimes you can?t find a cab and have to hitch a ride.?

?You?re bleary-eyed after seeing eight to 10 shows in one day.? If you?re lucky, you may have a nice dinner around 10 or 11 and then you have to go back to your hotel room and write.?

Fashion Theatre

?It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.? It?s like fashion theatre.?

?Especially in Paris, the shows are artful.? It?s similar to fine art and even to film in the way it reflects and refracts what?s going on socially and economically.?

Excess and Plumage

?These days, shows are getting more and more over the top, which reflects this new time of excess.? This past Spring, the couture shows were full of skins, furs and feathers.? This outward plumage was like a reflection of wealth and excess.?

LA?s Image Around the World

?LA is one of the most stylish cities in the world.? It?s incredibly inspirational for designers.

?It?s remarkable how much high-fashion designers in Paris pay attention to LA?s beaches, the street scene and the red carpet.? LA is a real hub of style and design.?

Image by the Week

?It?s exciting that we?re finally getting a section to cover this vibrant world.? Image is the first publication to be able to cover it weekly.

?Of course, news breaks by the day.? We?ll do the daily reporting online and produce a weekly print edition that really looks fabulous.?

Shopping with Booth

Have you ever wondered where the pros do their online shopping?? Moore?s got the list and she?s sharing.

?My morning routine includes coffee, the newspaper and checking the J. Crew website for new online exclusives,? Moore wrote in the August 19 issue of Image.? ?Before I go to bed, I browse Zappos to see exactly how many pairs of those Marc Jacobs flats are still in stock in my size.?

Moore?s other must-visit sites are listed in her story, ?A Virtual Retail Row.?

Naming Names

In late August, Booth Moore was named Image editor and chief fashion critic.? She had been The Times? fashion critic since 2004 and a staff writer since 1996.

The newly expanded Image section staff includes:

Melissa Magsaysay, assistant editor.? Before becoming an Image staff writer this Spring, she served as West Coast market editor of Women?s Wear Daily.
Monica Corcoran, staff writer. Corcoran was previously the style editor at Variety, where she authored the popular Stylephile blog.? Her blog will continue under a new name at latimes.com/image beginning September 9.
Adam Tschorn, staff writer. Tschorn, who joined Image in March, covers men?s wear, sport and surf brands, and the denim industry — including his recent Image cover on LA as the creative hub of the world denim scene.
Emili Vesilind, staff writer. Vesilind, formerly the West Coast retail editor of Women?s Wear Daily, will specialize in shopping stories, breaking news and larger trend pieces.

Rose Apodaca, the original consulting editor when Image launched as a monthly publication in March, remains as a part-time staff writer.

See Your Image in Print and Online