L.A. Fashion Week Spring '08: Bird of Prey
Every season, Peter Ross takes an inspirational trip of cultural submersion. Last season for his Grail line, Ross traveled to Haiti. For the debut of his Bird of Prey collection for Spring 2008, shown Oct. 18 at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, Calif., gypsies and vampires of Romania were the muse.
“It was all handmade. That’s what inspired us,” said Ross of the cultural attire. Grail is known for hand-applied surface treatments and distressed washes. Ross’ new endeavor, Bird of Prey, evolves his expertise of wash techniques into a modern, clean look. “The things that we do at the wash houses now are to make things beautiful, not to destroy them,” Ross said.
A silver metallic foil wash was applied to a women’s orange knit jacket, men’s black slim jeans and stripes on a men’s shirt for a futuristic mood. Folkloric paisley prints and a diamond checkered circus pattern had a modern feel in high-contrast burnout treatment. The clean treatments were complemented by the contemporary silhouettes of easy knit dresses, knit jackets and straight-leg bottoms. —R.C.
