California-Inspired and California-Made. That's SoLA.
New gift line SoLA comes with a particularly L.A. angle. Not only is the collection primarily made in L.A.—its founders hail from L.A.’s architecture, fashion and gift industries. Created by architect Barbara Bestor, fashion and lifestyle publicity Sara Stein and...
Dynasty Designer Nolan Miller, 1933-2012
Alexis Morrell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan (a.k.a. Joan Collins)Designer Nolan Miller died yesterday leaving a legacy that...
Congratulations Mary-Kate and Ashley!
Jerry Bruckheimer and Johnny Depp at the 2003 premiere for “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/BEImages). Depp's suit was designed by L.A. designer Estevan Ramos.Bloggers Tom and Lorenzo have plenty of...
Get Out the Vote--and Your Credit Card
Who knew Urban Outfitters was so political? The Philadelphia–based hipster retail chain has a line of presidential candidate T-shirts depicting Mitt Romney playing football (and as an oven mitt) and Barak Obama as a basketball player. Salon (which...
American Apparel on the Move--in Japan
Los Angeles’ own American Apparel is going mobile—in Japan. The company launched its first mobile e-commerce (that’s m-commerce, to those of us keeping up with the latest jargon) for the Japanese consumer. The m-commerce site operates much like the...
Hal Kaltman, Past President of the Textile Association of Los Angeles, Dies at 70
Hal Kaltman, the elder statesman of the California apparel industry and a mentor to many, died peacefully in Las Vegas on
Congratulations, Claire Pettibone!
When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg married Priscilla Chan in a surprise (at least to people who aren’t family and friends—FB or otherwise) ceremony, the bride wore a gown designed by Los Angeles designer Claire Pettibone. Hat tip to Racked for the photo above. InStyle has some fun facts on the dress, including the designer’s dish...
Atwood Goes All Medieval With HSN
Colleen Atwood was won well-deserved accolades for the costumes she created for “Chicago,” “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Alice in Wonderland.” Not to mention some of the inspired costumes she has created for gems such as “Married to the Mob” (I’m not kidding. I freakin' love that movie.)Her latest work will hit...
Look at You, Ditto!
Online eyewear retailer Ditto launched today with technology that lets you try on sunglasses and ophthalmic frames virtually using a webcam. Visitors can quickly create a “Ditto”—essential a video avatar of you. The...
Jumping Out of an Airplane? Wear This.
Photo by Jeff NewtonActually, this is the super-high-tech suit Felix Baumgartner will wear when he jumps from a helium balloon from 23 miles above earth. Commercial planes fly 6 miles to not quite 8 miles up. Chump change...
Google Zips It Up
Today’s Google doodle is all zipped up. The interactive doodle honors Gideom Sundback, who is known for perfecting the zipper. My favorite headline about the doodle is from the LA Times: “Gideon Sundback, who did not invent the zipper, gets a Google...
Sold-Out Fashion Market Northern California Includes Room for New Exhibitors
SAN MATEO, CALIF.—Organizers of Fashion Market Northern California kicked off the show’s recent sold-out run at the San Mateo County Event Center with the debut of its newly r...
The World According to Gaultier
"One of the first things that struck me about the Jean Paul Gaultier retrospective exhibition at the de Young Museum in San Francisco is the chatter. On my recent visit, the chatter came not from the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, but from the mannequins.In a clever display, video...
They Called Him Dragonpants
Did you hear the one about the guy with the Dragon Pants at the Mitt Romney event in Wisconsin? The eye-catching pants caught the eye of Romney staffer Garrett Jackson, who captured the moment and then immortalized it on Twitter. The L.A. Times’ Maeve Reston tweeted...
Play With Your Type
See the 3D B?French artist Jerome Corgier is taking typography to new dimensions. Corgier is experimenting with what Imprint magazine called “type sculptures,” with folded and layered paper. (Hat tip to Salon.)The artist’s...
The Wind Beneath My Feet
These socks showed up in today’s mail. Supercute, right? Plus, they have an intriguing little sticker that reads “Made with 100% Wind Power.” San Francisco–based Pact makes women’s and men’s socks, undies and T-shirts, made from mostly organic...
FIDM Pays Homage to Titanic Anniversary
April 15 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The Fashion Institute of Design Merchandising will pay homage with a presentation on April 14 at the design school’s Irvine campus by Kevin Jones, FIDM Museum curator and fashion and Titanic...
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
And while you’re at it, pick up some Tommy Bahama MLB gear. The Seattle-based lifestyle line has expanded its co-branded collection with Major League Baseball Properties, which, in Tommy B’s words “pays homage to America's favorite pastime while delivering authentic skybox style.”This year’s...
Busy L.A. Textile Show Includes Expanded Offerings
The Los Angeles International Textile Show lived up to its name with a broad mix of international exhibitors showing during the show’s March 26–28 run at the California Market Center. ...
Happy Birthday, American Apparel!
We were going to bake you cupcakes to celebrate, but we didn't have the time to make enough for all 6,000 employees. That's a lot of cupcakes! Several California officials—including State Assemblyman Gil Cedillo and Los Angeles City Councilmember José...
Karen Kane's Holiday Challenge
The top-three dresses on the runway at FIDM (Brandon Clark/abimages)Last summer, Los Angeles designer Karen Kane issued a challenge to students in the third-year advanced fashion design course at the Fashion Institute of Design Merchandising. The students were to...
Light Wash by American Apparel
Los Angeles vertical manufacturer American Apparel has solar panels on its factory roof, which generate 150 kilowatts of power and provide up to 15 percent of the company’s energy needs. According to the company, the solar panels need to be washed every...
Have You Gone Completely 'Mad'?
This cocktail party is a little loud.Can you stand another “Mad Men” fashion update? Of COURSE you can! After last night’s season 5 kickoff, we now know the year is 1966 and at least one character was wearing a minidress—a...
Nice Collection, But Can You Dance in It?
Los Angeles–based menswear line Madisonpark Collective answered that question with a resounding “Yes!” at its March 14 runway show at Style Fashion Week La at Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles. The runway show featured several...
Boys Gone Wild
Have you seen Madonna’s new “Girl Gone Wild” video yet? She looks “Brigitte Bardot” fab and “Truth or Dare” fit. But I think this one’s about the fellas. The video features Ukrainian dance/pop troupe Kazaky, and,...
E-Commerce was Made for Snark
“A: This is going to be the weirdest wedding ever. D: At least they invited Sad Panda."I’m going to have to create a bookmark tab for shopping snark sites like Regretsy, Anthroparodie and now this tumblr site: Heavy....
Tie One On at LA Fashion Week
L.A. Fashion Week and L.A. Fashion Market are in full swing and the ApparelNews team is out in force looking for the latest news—and fashion. Our intrepid photographer Volker Corell spotted a gaggle of well-dressed gents at...
Hot off the Runway at Style Fashion Week LA
We were at the Stop Staring! and Ina Soltani shows at Style Fashion Week LA last night—at the beautiful Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles. Our photographer Volker Corell captured the scene on and off the runway. (Hey! That's me!)The...
Mad for Fashion
The fifth season of “Mad Men” kicks off on AMC on March 25 and I, for one, can’t wait. When the series began, it was set in 1960 and last season concluded in 1965. No word on where—or, more precisely, when--the show will pick up. The season 5...
Think Pink!
Somebody get Pantone on the phone. There is no pink. I repeat, there is no pink.That alarming (and technically false) information was rattling around the Internet recently after two science reporters Michael Moyer (one of the hosts of NPR’s Radiolab show) and Robert Krulwich (writing for Scientific American)...
Handle With Care
Retro ad found at Planet Oddity This is why it’s always important to read the care instructions. Emma Barnett happened upon a particularly egregious one while “attempting to tidy up” at home. The care label in her boyfriend’s pants included the usual “machine wash warm,” blah, blah blah instructions...
The International House of Breakfast and Fashion
"""Kevin Jones discussing the Oscar-winning costumes from "The Artist"I was fortunate enough to snag an invitation to a breakfast and private museum tour hosted by the Fashion Institute of Design Merchandising for members of the international diplomatic corps. The group was visiting Los Angeles on the Obama Administration’s...
LA on the Red Carpet
Octavia Spencer in Tadashi ShojiCongratulations to all the California designers whose gowns appeared on the red carpet at last night’s Academy Awards. A special shout-out to Octavia Spencer, who took home the Oscar for best supporting...
Leave the Fur. Take the Cannoli.
Big hair! Big nails! Big furs! And shoulderpads out to heah. For a Canuck pub,
Howe Exceptional
I caught up with Jade Howe, designer of men’s line Howe, at the recent Project show in Las Vegas and he gave me the scoop on the latest collection. “It all started when I was watching the Occupy Wall Street protests,” Howe said. “I thought ’when did free enterprise become a bad word?’”The designer’s response? The 1 percent tee, pictured above. Perfect for that exceptional guy. Howe, the brand, is on a roll with several...
Lip Service: Widow Maker
While in Las Vegas earlier this week, I bumped into Drew Bernstein, owner of L.A. brands Lip Service and KillCity.The always entertaining Bernstein had plenty of news. First, there’s a new line at Lip Service—it’s called Widow and it’s an edgy men's and women's collection which was showing at Pooltradeshow. Thecompany recently...
It's Good to be Agave
’It’s good to be George Clooney.” And thus begins an odd segment on CBS “Person to Person” profiling George Clooney and his StudioCity home. It’s always fun to check in with how the stars live. “There’s some lady who makes salads for me…and some...
Unique Loves Local
Unique LA , the marketplace for hand-crafted and locally made items is returning to the CaliforniaMarket Center this weekend for a pre-Valentines Day sale.The show runs Feb. 11-12 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.It’s $10 at the door (kids under 12 get in free)...
Primary School
Like Legos, only fashionI've got primaries on the brain—and I’m not talking about the presidential race. I’m talking about primary colors. Lately I'm seeing everything in cheery shades of red, blue and yellow....
Are You Ready for Some Football Couture?
Madonna donned her best Valkyrie-wear for her Super Bowl performance Actually, it was Givenchy and included at least four wardrobe changes and a cast of famous friends singing along, including Cee Lo Green, M.I.A., Nicki Minaj and the...
First Look: Andrae Gonzalo Gowns
Let’s start with the bad news. L.A. designer Andrae Gonzalo has moved to New York. (Hmph, where’s Andrae, indeed.)The good news is, he’s still sending his scoops out west. (Thank you, Andrae! Sorry for using the image above--but...
Soul Train: Iconic Music and Iconic Fashion
“Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius died today. Seems like a good time to remember the influence his iconic show had on music and fashion....
Victoria Lurves Kittens
Another hat tip to Fashionista, which landed an exclusive to the fashion video debut of Victoria Beckman’s new diffusion line, Victoria. The ridiculously stylish and fun video is loaded with super-cute clothes—and kittens. No idea why, perhaps in a nod...
Alternative Hearts Peach Kings and Glitter n'Glue
Alternative Apparel will kick off Valentine’s Day a little early with a Valentine’s Day-themed party at their flagship store on Abbot Kinney in Venice. The Feb. 11 event will be hosted by Glitter N’ Glue blogger Kristen Turner and will feature a performance by...
You're a Funny One, JCP
JCPenney has been a lot of things in its 110-year history: Western merchant, discount retailer, purveyor of trendy fashion and catchy jingles, lone department store in my Grandma’s town in Colorado (“See if they’ve got it at Penney’s,” she used to say.) Now we can add one more: Funny. The...
Rodarte on Buffy via Tavi
Perfect thing to stumble across right before the weekend. Tavi Gevison’s online magazine Rookie has a feature written by Rodarte designers, Laura and Kate Mulleavy, in which the two designing sisters discuss their favorite episodes...
Fashion Girls Say the Darndest Things
Apparently, there’s no end to the “sh*t” meme. We stumbled across this one today. And I have to admit, it's pretty spot-on. And funny even with the sound off. It plays a bit like the drag performance of ’Ab Fab,” which, come to think of it, is something...
Sleep Like Stars--in the LA Fashion District
The Los Angeles Fashion District is getting a new hotel—one with a perfect blend of hipster credibility and old Hollywood provenance. Ace Hotel, the indie boutique chain based in Portland, Ore., will open in the historic United Artist Theater on Broadway near 9th Street.The 12-story office...
Spotted: Bella Dahl
If you’ve driven along Olympic Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles recently, you may have spotted the giant Bella Dahl billboard above the entrance to the Packard Lofts building across from the Fashion...
Cocktails by the Pool, Anyone?
Trina TurkBanana Republic is getting a dose of PalmSprings style thanks to Los Angeles designer Trina Turk, who will launch a limited-edition capsule collection at the Gap-owned retail chain beginning in June. The Banana Republic Trina Turk Collection of summer essentials will be sold...
