Los Angeles stands proud as the fifth fashion capital of the world. It’s home to Tom Ford, Rodarte, Tina Turk, Rachel Zoe, Jeremy Scott, and an increasing number of top fashion designers looking to put down roots. It’s also home to the fashionable red carpet for both music and film celebrities with top stylists that rival any city.

In the past, I’ve skipped LA Fashion Week in favor of becoming a NYFW regular and the occasional Paris Fashion Week; I attend every September for designer shows, showrooms, and events. Between us, it’s pretty exhausting. New York is The City That Never Sleeps and it’s dubbed that for good reason!

But one thing I don’t like is the frigid temperatures that winter brings. And now that NYFW is no longer held at the Lincoln Center, but throughout New York City (other than some of the major designers still clustered in one spot..phew!), I realized there are other options to see this year’s trends besides freezing my tush off every February.

This was the moment I realized I haven’t been supporting my own city in its Fashion Week! Unlike the spread out event in New York, LA still offers their main shows at the Petersen Museum as their main venue, aside from the separate event, Art Hearts Fashion, held during the same week.

When I really thought about it, it seemed strange not to go to LAFW when some of my favorite designers are based in Los Angeles. Sure, it’s the last stop of the fashion month and most of the buying purchases for the next year are set. But my goal is to bring you up and coming designers that you may not have heard of with original looks for this year’s trends, not to buy clothes for Nordstrom. And what better way to keep you ahead of Nordstrom’s buyers than show you the up and comers first hand.

I met so many fashionistas from Paris, Brazil, Dubai, and of course, my City of Angels.

This year LAFW showcased a lot of prêt-à-porter brands that I can’t wait to put in my closet. More importantly, I’m proud to say Los Angeles Fashion Week chose designers that were diverse and represented top talent around the world.

 

There were 3 shows in particular that stood out among the rest:

 

 

ROMY Collection

Romy Hourani is the epitome of world-influenced fashion. She’s no stranger to the fashion scene around the globe with roots in Rome, Miami, and now Dubai where she lives with her husband and two beautiful children.

Personally, I love that she takes a real girl approach to style and closes the gap between Haute Couture and Ready-to-Wear fashion. I felt like I could wear her clothes straight from the runway with some off-the-runway flourishes, but just as easily take her show-stopping designs to New York in September.

ROMY and lead hair artist, Evie Peterson, had a great take on the recent “bedhead” trend with magnificent lift at the root, which lends a more voluminous bombshell look that’s lived-in. Showing us that our own natural look is what completes a high street fashion look.

Here’s the runway rundown and my interview with the designer herself.

Nicholas Mayfield

Not only is Nicholas one amazing artist, who sells much of his collection to celebrities in Hollywood, but he’s also been battling Gucci recently when they came out with a design that’s just a little too similar to this break-out artist. My takeaway: Nicholas is ahead of the game when it comes to designing trendsetting clothes. Nicholas is a local artist from Riverside, CA that is using his hometown as inspiration for his 90’s vintage clothing canvas. 

His clothes make a statement, but are still ready-to-wear street style. You may just find yourself the envy of all your friends by wearing his powerhouse designs. Personally, I have my eye on one of his jackets and a bold handbag that I know will be a hit everywhere I go. He hand paints his entire collection and every piece is wearable artwork. 

Here’s the runway rundown and my interview with the designer himself.

Stories from Arabia: Hessa Al Hemel

Hessa Alhemel, a designer from Kuwait, designed a collection with some of the most beautiful fabrics, themes, and structures I’ve seen come out of anywhere. And, she’s no stranger to Fashion Week! She premiered her collection at London Fashion Week last year. One of my favorite choices she made was the pattern with Arabic script writing that says: Behind all Doors There’s Love.

Her collection was inspired by the sunset over the backyards of her desert city. But my favorite design was the show stopping check sheer jacket (pictured above) that reminded me of a fresh and youthful take on Chanel or Mansur Gavriel patterns.

Check out my fashion week story below!