Elegant Edge at FCI Show
March 12, 2010The scene: Tribal music, indie rock goddesses, Coco Chanel, Asian culture and eco-awareness were among the wide-ranging themes in the latest collections from the students of Fashion Careers International, the fashion program in downtown Los Angeles that offers accelerated design programs. The show offered the Fall 2010 collections of FCI’s latest crop of beginning fashion design students, as well as a graduate gallery, which featured the collections of Michelle Liu and Jesus Ruiz.
Designers Ginger Arnold and Toan T. Le put a new twist on the classic cheongsam. Arnold created hers in an edgy skull-print brocade, while Le’s came in an understated tweed.
Vanessa Strait took inspiration from female-empowering music to create her collection, which included a flirty leopard-print swing dress with fuchsia godets. Lauren Parma updated classic suiting fabric with feminine folds.
Diana Rubanenko and Diana Cosma Herbert used tulle as an architectural element. Both designers used the fabric to encase their dresses in colorful clouds that swirled around the body.
Classic 1930s styles seemed to inspire Smaily Vasquez and Sharon Yen. Both showed dramatic gowns that draped the body in liquid satin.
Graduate Liu dubbed her collection “Dryads” and offered an eco-themed collection that ranged from asymmetrical dresses with origami-like pleating details and ruching. The designer showed off her pattern-making skills with a series of dresses with cutouts featuring inset strapping.
Ruiz went for comfortable elegance with his collection, dubbed “Met-amor-phosis,” which opened with a blouson dress in chartreuse and navy. Ruiz included plenty of dramatic details, such as peaked shoulders, feather trim and lattice insets.—Alison A. Nieder