MC FINCH A CHAT WITH CURLY V STOP STARING! KEEPS IT CLASSY SPRING SUMMER BREAKTHROUGH
GET INTO THE SWING OF THINGS LA FASHION WEEK ISSUE
TABLE OF CONTENTS LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
1
CONCEPT FASHION WEEK
2
I SAW IT! I WANT IT!
3
ARTISTS: THE DATE FARMERS
4
DESIGNER INSIGHT: CURLY V
5
WORD ON THE TWEET
8
MEET THE INSTALLATION DESIGNERS OF CONCEPT
10
STOP STARING! ON THE RUNWAY
12
MC FINCH BOUDOIR
13
LETTER FROM THE
EDITOR
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CONCEPT KICKED OFF THEIR LOS ANGELES FASHION WEEK WITH FRESH AND EMERGING TALENT. With a jam packed first day at Ace Gallery in West LA, many well-dressed folks attended the three day fashion and art affair. The freshly- young and the classically- aged came together each night to check out work by Mexican-American artist, The Date Farmers, collection installations and runway shows of Spring Summer 2012. One of the most memorable installations of Concept was the collaboration between celebrity makeup artist, Melanie Mills and designer, Summer Rose, of their “Futuristic Huntress.” Most interestingly enough, Concept was the main platform for Woodbury’s Fashion Marketing students to work and experience their first fashion week. !
I SAW IT! I WANT IT!
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THE DATE FARMERS Artist Armando Lema and Carlos Ramirez are a collaborative
at a date farm. With that was the birth of their name
duo who showed during fashion week at the Ace Gallery. Their
The Date Farmers. Many of their paints are
style of consists of Mexican and American pop culture that tell
unrefined, however simple enough to understand the
a visual story with paint and found materials that is collected in
concept and the message they are trying to
Mexico. Many of their pieces are heavily influenced by street
communicate.
graffiti, war rebellion posters, prison art and tattoos. The Date Farmers are artists that still represent what The pair of artist are of Mexican decent and have a background
Mexican- American culture consists of and adds
of having immigrant parents who previously worked
elements such us found items to give more depth to their art.
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CURLY V
He's not vicious or malicious Just de-lovely and delicious !
Curly V’s Spring Summer 2012 installation on Concepts opening night made me feel as if I was stepping into a 1960’s high end mod picnic. The tight fitting mini jersey dresses in rose pink and creamy white were the soft looks he offered for the daytime girl. With a closer look, the details of the miniature rosettes on the collar, sleeves and skirt gave it a touch of a dandy. On the other side of the room were the ladies with the loud dresses’ who are less uptight. Rocking the short colorful dresses with a low turtle neck and decorated with daisy vinyl appliques, theses dresses were the liveliest thing in the room.
Curly has worked under the umbrella of photographer David LaChapelle and popculture fashion designer Jeremy Scott. During our conversation gained further insight how he’s making it through the tough times and the inspirations for his spring summer collection.
Curly’s inspiration is a process before it comes into a full summer bloom. Raised in the city of Los Angeles and a FIDM graduate,
Where does he go from there? Taking the groovin’ vibes of the 90’s hit, “Groove is in the Heart”, by Deee Light, and the
How does he get started? Inspiration does not come easily day or night but according to Curly, he gets some of his best ideas when his mind is in between the conscious and subconscious. In order for him to make sure he does not miss a thought, Curly sleeps with a notebook near his bed.
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icon Jackie O. ,from he 60’s, Curly has paid the proper homage seen in his installation. One cool thing about Curly is that he is a fashion designer who is very artistic and presents us pop art fashion. Andy Warhol and Keith Haring are his favorite artists he admires and takes their influence to create fun clothing. When did he find his passion for designing? Around age of 6 or 7 was when began to discover his talent. From there, he attended FIDM for fashion design. Once he graduated he headed over to the east coast to start working and gain experience in the industry. What advice would he give to to other designers and artist? The first words to come out of his mouth were, “It’s okay to be crazy and fun. We are in dark economic times so why not just make fashion something happy.” I couldn’t agree more to his statement because since 2008, the United States has changed in many ways and fashion is a great platform to promote happiness. What can we see for future collections? Curly V does not dish out on his prospective collections. His creative ideas that turn into his designs are kept a secret simply because he likes to keep people guessing and carry a sense of mystery.
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WORD ON THE TWEET...
RUNWAY MAKEUP
LAFW LOOK
FRONT ROW
DESIGNERS ON TV
CATWALK REPORT
AFTER PARTY !
MC FINCH COVERAGE
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MEET THE INSTALLATION DESIGNERS FROM CONCEPT
KITTENHAWK
MIKE VENSEL
Kittenhawk’s Spring Summer 2012
In the installation temple of Mike
was crawling with sinister bold cuts.
Vensel, were the rich pharohesque
Inspired from the treasure scene of
women. Hieroglyphics filled the wall
“The Goonies”, Kittenhawk utilized
which created the ambience of
her self-discovered chicken bones that
purity and power. Vensel’s Spring
she boiled and glazed. She is also
Summer collection was presented in
resourceful in her fabrics by going
his minimalistic style with simple
behind stores and dumpster diving for
structures and solid tones of color.
unwanted fabrics. Her collection is the
His fabrics represented a fluidity by
“neo goth slut wave” of the season
utilizing leather and suede with
because of the revealing sharp
shades of black, white and blue.
silhouettes. The head pieces and chain
Mike Vensel is a work of art himself
accents were captivating and uniquely
due to his studies in architecture
presented because it was juxtaposed
that inspires his simple but powerful
with light weight sheer fabrics. The all
taste of beauty. Born in North
black collection was a statement derived
Carolina and now an LA native,
from the historical Salem Witch trials.
Vensel executes the confident
Kittenhawk’s vision was to represent a
woman by focusing on lucid shapes
strong women who has the fight in her
and forms. His engineered
with a costume aesthetic.
collection is a creative and artistic move that set him apart from the rest of LA. !"
SUMMER ROSE & MELANIE MILLS
DEBAKALIS
Celebrity makeup artist Melanie Mills
What do you get when you put two
and designer Summer Rose collaborated
designers together? Debakalis!
at Concept for their installation titled,
Eddie Debrr and Project Runway
“Futuristic Huntress”. The full on
graduate, Johnny Sakalis, created
primitive gear of feathers and leather
their “Siren” couture installation.
went along extremely well with the face
The duo showcased their underwater
makeup. To complete the theme, they
high-fashion with bubbled hemlines
added a live owl to the installation which
and shoulders along with leather
captivated all the on-lookers. The tribal
seashell accents. Makeup on the
women were some of the most elaborate
models resembled Katy Perry’s,
in Concept. The looks were inspired
Alien, look with a light pink face and
from ancient tribes and indigenous birds
bold blue lips. To tie it all together
mixed along with magical and witchy
was the platinum powdered hair that
characteristics. This Concept
looked like crushed pearls.
installation was an epic portal view of
Debakalis Spring Summer collection
what we would look like if the world
is a perfect fit for the queen of the
would go back to its early primitive state.
underwater kingdom.
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Stop Staring!
ON THE
RUNWAY With a passion for vintage styles, designer Alicia Estrada showcases a vibrant Spring Summer collection. Adding the late 20’s to her silhouettes and old-fashion prints, Stop Staring! is now for all of glam Hollywood
Get into the swing of things with a glamourous rockabilly closet. As this season it appears, Alicia was inspired by New York blogger Vintage Vandalizm aka Jazmine Rodriguez. Her style is pinup mix with older vintage and then some street style added. Key pieces in the collection were the tight dresses that gave the models curves in places they did not even know. A personal favorite was the two piece crop top paired with an aline skirt on a white and yellow bird fabric.
Alicia Estrada is a women who gives back to the school by inviting many Cal State Long Beach students to attend her fashion show. By doing so many of the students that I chatted with were excited and appreciative to be around industry professional. Alicia brought in the students and the celebrities to the show, such as host Lisa Ann Walter and Playboy Bridgett Marquardt. Stop Staring! is a fashion week favorite with fresh and fun clothing.
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Gina Mc Finch & Alicia Estrada
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Photo: Sephora
Photo: Amazon
Photo: Amazon
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Photo: Amazon
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