Los Angeles Fashion Week Fall '09: UNIF

Plaid shirts, distressed jeans, rock ’n’ roll tees and Doc Martens all added up to the ’90s-era grunge look of the UNIF Fall collection. The line was presented on the runway on March 14 at the BOXeight Fashion Week at the Los Angeles Theatre.

Owner and men’s designer Eric Espinoza said he had been listening to a lot of Nirvana recently and channeled the look into the collection.

The UNIF label, which stands for “Ur Not In Fashion,” falls somewhere in between street, skate and contemporary style. Espinoza likes to call it “street fashion.” Although geared to a retro ’90s look, the collection was updated with a modern twist. Colorful graphic tees were layered under flannels, jeans were hand-distressed from top to bottom and then block printed, and jackets and vests were spray-rubberized.

The women’s collection, designed by Christine Lai, included high-waist, acid-wash shorts, colorful graphic T-shirts, liquid leggings and plenty of plaid-flannel shirts layered for maximum effect. —N. Jayne Seward