On the Green Carpet

The spot for fashion cognoscenti during L.A.’s upcoming market week won’t be a nightclub or a restaurant: It will be the mayor’s lawn.

Kicking off the fall 2008 trade shows--the let’s-do-business follow-up to L.A. Fashion Week--will be an installation of eco-conscious couture exhibited at a March 13 invitation-only gathering hosted by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Dubbed FutureFashion L.A., the event is the brainchild of the founders of the exclusive bicoastal trade show Designers & Agents.

Each of 15 designers, including such forward-thinking Angelenos as Magda Berliner, Trina Turk, Rozae Nichols, Hazel Brown and Deborah Lindquist, has been invited to create a garment from eco-conscious fabrics donated by cosponsor Earth Pledge, a nonprofit devoted to promoting sustainable development.

For the evening, the designers’ creations will be displayed on the grounds of the mayor’s official residence, the Getty House in Windsor Square near Hancock Park.

“This is the crowning event of market week,” says Barbara Kramer, co-founder of Designers & Agents. She and co-founder Ed Mandelbaum worked with the Council of Fashion Designers of America to plan the event (also cosponsored by the Los Angeles Times’ Image section). The top-tier group of fashion designers, stylists, retailers, editors, tastemakers and Hollywood celebrities who will attend represents “the new guard of fashion power in Los Angeles,” Kramer says. “We don’t just throw parties to have a party.”

This is the group’s first time participating in market week, which runs March 14 to 18, following CFDA President Diane von Furstenberg’s Beverly Hills gathering in October honoring Los Angeles fashion. Steven Kolb, CFDA’s executive director, says this new event goes one step further. “It’s a very high-profile way to show that we do support L.A. designers.”

And the mayor? His involvement might not be surprising if you were paying attention during the city’s spring 2008 runway shows: There he was, cheering Eduardo Lucero at the former St. Vibiana’s Cathedral downtown. There he was at the Orpheum Theatre, introducing the L.A. Fashion Awards. And there he was again with his 14-year-old daughter, Natalia, at the Designers & Agents show in the Fashion District, admiring the custom jeans from Venice-based Stronghold.

“It’s no secret that Los Angeles is one of the world’s great fashion capitals,” Villaraigosa says. “My goal is to build on an already strong industry momentum and make sure the L.A. brand is the preeminent influence on 21st century fashion.”