Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '06: Marco Marco

Los Angeles designer Marco Morante showed his version of fast fashion March 24 at the Highlands nightclub in Hollywood.

Morante exhibited 10 looks for his Marco Marco label. He created all of them a week before the show. Morante made many of the pieces in 90 minutes and said many are worthy of the red carpet. While improvisation is an important part of the Los Angeles- based designer’s aesthetic, he said there’s a time-tested method for his fast fashion.

Since 2000, Morante has developed a signature look of custom-made jersey garments that he creates at his Hollywood-based boutique. The jersey garments typically bear asymmetrical cuts and colorful patchwork accents. And for the March 24 show, he found a new avenue for this look—influenced by the community of artists living in Brooklyn, New York. The garments have a mid-1970s New York Punk look, with zippers and asymmetric patchwork.

The show also featured several men’s looks by Ashton Michael, who sells his collection at the Marco Marco boutique. The runway show ended on a New York note. After the models exited the runway, the Jack Rabbit Flashes Ladies Lace dance company performed a jazz-rock number. The dancers and the models also wore Ed Hardy footwear. —Andrew Asch