In recent years, Los Angeles has successfully attracted international attention for its contemporary arts scene and world-class performance institutions like L.A. Phil and L.A. Dance Project. Meanwhile, though, the city’s local fashion community has waited for its moment on the global stage, with its own biannual runway shows, galas, and parties that make up Fashion Week remaining largely under-the-radar.
As designers from L.A. and abroad prepare to showcase their Spring/Summer 2020 collections for the city’s fashion events, we’ll tell you why the days of L.A. Fashion Week being underestimated by the world of fashion may be in the past.
Hailed as the “Official Fashion Week for the City of L.A.” by Mayor Eric Garceti, L.A. Fashion Week (LAFW) hopes to help Los Angeles take its place alongside the world’s most stylish meccas. LAFW is produced twice a year in the weeks after shows in Paris, NYC, London and Milan, and the event (not to be confused with competitors Style Fashion Week or the similarly named Los Angeles Fashion Week from Art Hearts Fashion) trades the familiarity of household name brands for exciting emerging designers.
The focus on elevating little-known designers instead of wooing established labels is what sets LAFW apart from Fashion Week in other cities, keeping the attention on the future of fashion without conforming to rigid rules around style and design. By showcasing young designers, the fashion shows during LAFW are often experimental, fresh, and innovative, with celebrities sitting front at runway shows that would potentially struggle to attract attention if they were competing against shows in New York and Paris. Q Design and Play, RENIM PROJECT, and Fabiana Milazzo, all promising fashion houses that have attracted attention around the world, are just three of the brands featured during the Spring/Summer 2020 showcase held over three days. As Los Angeles continues to elevate raw talent and support the designers of tomorrow with events like L.A. Fashion Week, the event is sure to launch L.A. in the global conversation around fashion.
We’re continually inspired by the creative energy of Downtown Los Angeles. For local recommendations—and to hear from the diverse individuals who make DTLA what it is today—head to our Meet You Downtown blog. And for more about Los Angeles Fashion Week, head to lafw.net.
