Rumor Has It: LA Fashion Week On Its Last Legs

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Samora showed at Smashbox last season

Los Angeles mag's Chic Leak blog reports that "Several people involved with the shows say the partnership between IMG and Culver City’s Smashbox Studios, which has lasted five years, will end after a last round of presentations this October," though IMG reps won't comment. The question is what would be the future of LA Fashion Week if NYC-based IMG pulls out. According to the blog, "Whether the Smashbox figureheads Dean and Davis Factor will continue on their own is unsure."

Presentations at other venues include BOXeight, which has been putting on shows for four seasons, featuring designers such as Louis Verdad and Eduardo Lucero. The next shows will be at its "new gallery space on Washington and Central downtown," with a 1,300-person capacity. New to the scene and showing March 20-22, per the blog, is trade show company IDG World Expo, which will present "REVEAL Los Angeles...The Fashion & Design Event" at the new LA Live, mixing "runway presentations with a trade show, emphasizing sportswear and the business side of the industry rather than celebrity attendance or high-fashion design."

Most intriguingly is the possibility of a "coalition of veteran fashion publicists and event producers (Bryan Rabin, Evolutionary Media Group, Genevieve Productions)," and a "festival of fashion, music, film, and art organized by Steven Gerstein, a stylist who has helped coordinate the Levi’s presence at the annual South by Southwest music festival in Austin." The truth is the application of the NY Fashion Week structure on LA has never quite worked. Let's hope this is an opportunity for improvement and finding a platform that works for the city's designers.
· Is L.A. Fashion Week Over? [Chic Leak]
· LA Fashion Week archives [Racked]