L.A. Fashion Week Fall '04: Wooden Mustache
Chuck Stolarek has only been out of the Rhode Island School of Design for two years, but already he could be considered a Renaissance man.
Furniture design is Stolarek’s first love. But since arriving in Los Angeles, he has branched out to create Wooden Mustache, an edgy apparel collection that he describes as “street-trash couture.” Stolarek displayed the collection on March 27 at El Cid Restaurant in Los Angeles as part of LA.com’s “The Champagne Catwalk” brunch and fashion show series.
“It is pretty much streetwear,” said the 20-something designer, who has also dabbled in landscape architecture and Web site development. “I try to create pieces from scratch or from vintage pieces. I’ll use a fabric and contrast it with the concept and cut of the actual piece.”
The collection concentrates on womenswear but has a few menswear pieces, as well. The casual fashions have an offbeat, artsy look that seemed right at home in Silverlake, the bohemian Los Angeles neighborhood where Stolarek revealed the collection.
Dresses had capped sleeves, empire waistlines and layered looks. One popular style was a baseball jacket done in bright shades accented with contrasting fabrics. Shirts hugged the waist and sometimes ended in layered scallops. Menswear consisted mostly of short-sleeved shirts made of fabrics reminiscent of a little boy’s bedspread. —D.B.
