LA's Edge
The fashionable crowd showed up early and stayed late for the debut of Metropolis—a new event mixing fashion, music and art—held in a loft space in South Los Angeles. The fashion mixed well-known names with up-and-comers and showed Los Angeles’ edgy side. For more from the show, see our fashion slideshows.
The fashionable crowd headed to South Los Angeles for Metropolis, a night of fashion, art and music held Nov. 10 at the Dreamland Loft, a warehouse space turned photo studio located on East 32nd Street.
The event was organized by Israel Ramirez and Beat Renegade Productions and included a runway show featuring designs by Jennifer Phillips, Hype, Superluckycat, UNIF, Flopi and Strutt. About 400 people stayed on late in the night to hear the live bands and DJs including Morphine Generation designer Erik Hart.
“I have been wanting to do this for a while,” Ramirez said. “I was looking for the right musicians, the right artists and the right designers.”
Ramirez is a sales representative with the Los Angeles–based Nikki & Lucy Showroom, which carries Hype, Superluckycat and Strutt.
Hype designer Darena Yee opened the show with a collection of cute and girlie dresses in abstract prints. Several Hype tops were paired with bottoms by Strutt.
Jennifer Phillips, the owner of the Sirens and Sailors boutique in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood, showed a small collection of dresses, including one in black with a wide ruffled neckline. A navy baby-doll dress had tucking at the neckline, and a jumpsuit had wide legs and a halter neckline.
Superluckycat designer Crystal Butler showed her reworked vintage pieces in layers. A printed mini was layered over a T-shirt dress in heather jersey, a white lace slip peaked below the hem of a pearl-print dress and wintery plaids were cut into micro minis and worn with leggings.
Eric Esponoza mixed bright colors and patterns for his UNIF collection. The cheeky collection, which stands for “Ur Not in Fashion,” was a send-up of all things ’80s with plenty of neon, spandex, and New Wave and surf inspiration.
Designer Florencia Scagliotti showed her Flopi collection of whimsical designs, which drew inspiration from urban punk from Tokyo’s Harajuki fashion scene.
Ramirez said he hopes this is the first of several events mixing art, music and fashion, adding that he has already received inquires from other labels interested in participating in a future event.
“It wasn’t during Fashion Week, but a lot of those high-profile shows are expensive to produce,” Ramirez said. “A lot of L.A. fashion comes from small companies that work out of lofts or stores, and they need a place to show.”—Alison A. Nieder
