Music, celebrities and fashion came together on 12 January as British designer Stella McCartney showcased her Autumn 2016 inter-seasonal collection, known in the fashion business as pre-fall, in Los Angeles.
Models stood on platforms between rows of records and CDs at Hollywoods landmark music store Amoeba Music, showcasing outfits in leopard and tiger prints and cheeky cat motifs, as well as graphic circles and stripes. The colour palate was earthy, with creams and shades of brown, highlighted with splashes of indigo, orange and bright pink.
While this is the first time McCartney has shown a collection in Los Angeles, she follows on the heels of designer Tom Ford, who showcased his fall/winter 2015 collection in Hollywood last February. Louis Vuitton also held its LV Series 2 exhibit of archive classics and new clothing collection in Hollywood last February, while British brand Burberry took over Los Angeles landmark Griffith Observatory in April to showcase its 2015 collection.
Wed always wanted to have a party in LA and it just really felt like the right time. I have so many close friends here and I spend a lot of time here and it just feels like a moment when music, film, fashion, the arts, its all just come together for LA and it just feels like the right time, McCartney said.
The growing high fashion spotlight on Los Angeles is centred on the red carpets rolled out over the two-month awards season as designers dress celebrities to showcase the pinnacle of their collections. Saint Laurent Paris announced on 12 January it will showcase part of its fall/winter 2016 menswear and womenswear collections in Los Angeles on 10 February, ahead of the Grammy Awards, before unveiling the second part of the collections in Paris a month later.
McCartney has often dressed select celebrities, often close friends, on the red carpet. At the Golden Globes on 10 January, the designer created a custom white strapless column dress for Empire actress Taraji P Henson, who won best drama TV actress.
Were one of those houses, how do you say this in a delicate manner, we dont, we just work with people that come to us that we have relationships with, its very genuine. When we dress people its a genuine experience for them and for us. So it really depends, you know, when we get those moments and we have the right person. But you know, we dont go out and, kind of, attack people and we dont pay people, we just go with the flow of whatever happens that season, McCartney said.
McCartney, whose father is former Beatle Paul McCartney, said music is a key influence in her work.
Its very important to me as a designer. Ive been brought up with music, so its something that I feel very comfortable around, probably more comfortable around that fashion, quite frankly. It comes very naturally to me to be in this kind of environment. Im a massive fan of Amoeba Records. I love this shop and I was really happy when they agreed to let us have the party here, she said.
