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LA Fashion Week or not, designers are ditching the "official" sched in favor of their own calendars. Following Wolk Morais's reverie-like runway show earlier this week, up-and-coming talent August Getty staged an otherworldly showcase at Universal Studios's backlot for his spring/summer 2016 line.
Admittedly, there was a mix of skepticism and curiosity when a very vague invite for a "unique, visceral experience" for Getty's second-ever collection landed in our e-inboxes: Google reveals the 21-year-old designer's industrialist lineage (he's the grandson of oil magnate J. Paul Getty), which expectedly comes with the sort of wealth to fund such a production. All doubts disappeared when we rolled up to the surrealist and ethereal scene—dreamed up by none other than legendary photog David LaChapelle, who transformed the lot's Wild West town into an interactive heaven and hell-themed art exhibit.
Instant name recognition aside, Getty presented quite the promising range of minimalist-futuristic silhouettes in neutral hues for his "Thread of Man" collection. Models—including the designer's sister, Natalia—with mushroom bobs wandered from behind saloon windows in nipple-freeing nude latex dresses, sheath gowns, and umbrella-bottom dresses on the "heaven" side; a scene from behind a chain-link fence declared "hell" as televisions rolled clips of reality TV queen Kim Kardashian and presidential hopeful Donald Trump. (Sounds about right.)
Given his philanthropic family's famed name, the guest list predictably included a host of stars (actresses Jaime King and Jessica Szhor, model Jessica Stam), socialites (It girl/artist/model Langley Fox, stylish twins Sama and Haya Khadra), and celebrity spawns (Hayley Hasselhoff). Take a peek at more snaps from last night's Instagram and Snapchat playground—which featured a live choir for its grand finale—in the gallery above.