L.A. Fashion Week Spring '08: Who's Next

Fledgling lifestyle magazine Who’s Next, What’s Next hosted a three-designer showcase Oct. 16 at the Mondrian hotel’s Skybar in West Hollywood, Calif., where the models walked a runway that spanned the hotel’s pool.

Lotta Stensson, the Los Angeles–based contemporary designer of Lotta, opened the show with her Spring 2008 collection of sexy jersey dresses and tops. B’s, a handbag line, also showed oversized handbags in a variety of fabrications. Shadang, a line of cotton T-shirts, sweats, dresses and shirts inspired by Chinese monks, caused quite the stir when it opened its runway presentation with sword-carrying martial artists who took to the runway for an acrobatic performance. The drama continued when one performer botched a backflip, punching a hole in the runway. Later, a model wearing a Shadang mini-dress fell through the hole into the pool below. —Erin Barajas