L.A. Fashion Week Fall 2002: Deseo 23
It takes chutzpah to stage a fashion show to coincide with the launch of a brand-new company, hold it during Los Angeles Fashion Week and invite the trade and the media. Fortunately for designer Daniel Gonzales of Deseo 23, his debut runway show went off smoothly—if only a little fashionably late.
The debut collection, billed as “the Creative Synergy of Woman, Earth and Technology,” was shown on April 13 in a photography studio in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. The presentation was a collaborative effort between Gonzales, a 2001 graduate of Brooks College in Long Beach, Calif., and Kadija Qaal, “T” Ngu and Jennifer Garcia, all recent Brooks graduates. (The show was also produced by Brooks grads Mark Pagaduan and Tina Rani Shankla. Padaguan is also a fashion assistant for California Apparel News.)
Gonzales, 22, who said he’s been trying to launch a collection since he was 16, said he found the right mix in his team of fellow Brooks graduates.
The Deseo 23 group showed 18 pieces from their 25-item line, which is currently carried in consignment shops, Gonzales said.
The collection of pared-down bohemian separates drew from a wide range of global influences. Many pieces combined such sales-friendly details as drawstrings and ruffled cuffs with unusual, but still wearable, touches including an inset, irregularly pleated panel on the hem of a skirt. The line did veer into more conceptual territory with a corset made from woven ribbons that were left long and fluttering. Another showpiece was a patched and folded-pleated vest with a standing collar. Gonzales showed a flair for construction with a fitted blouse with sinuous seaming and a black skirt with a twisted-lattice hem worn over a cream underskirt. —Alison A. Nieder
