L.A. Fashion Week Spring '04: Daly Bain
Los Angeles–based design team Pauline Daly and Daniel Bain quietly created Daly Bain, their minimalist and at times avant-garde line, for five years before hosting their debut runway show on Oct. 26 during Smashbox Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City.
The British ex-pats opened and closed their show with stark black-and-white pieces—long tailored coats at the entrance and long skirts with ruffled-collared shirts at the close. In between was a jolt of color in the form of electric-blue and bright-red T-shirts topping white skirts splashed with color or discretely trimmed at the hem with bright shades. Still, color was primarily an accent rather than a focus, turning up as a chocolate-brown stripe on a pair of tailored pants or as three bands of yellow on a black skirt.
More dramatic pieces included a trio of viscose knit dresses that were deceptively austere in the front. But when the models turned, they revealed a draped back and a cutaway section trimmed in bright contrast colors.
Daly and Bain also played with shape and silhouette, most notably with a short double-breasted swing coat in bright-white gabardine.
The play of excess and restraint was all part of the designers’ plan and the evolution of the line. “We were a little more quirky and changed it a little by listening to our buyers,” said Bain. —Alison A. Nieder
