By Tadzio Garcia
Project Ethos kicked off Fashion Week LA with an outreach to local and international talent with an exciting night of fashion, music and art in Hollywood on March 10.
The event drew a packed house at the Taglyan Cultural Complex in Hollywood attracting celebrities and students alike.
The red-carpet event offered two fashion runway shows, ongoing music performances and a maze of various types of artists who created and displayed their work, such as painters painting.
“Project Ethos provides an avenue for people like me trying to break into the fashion industry,” former Elan Maria Sanchez said. “Just getting in to see a runway show in Los Angeles is next to impossible, but I’m here to experience this night with people like me eager to network. All it took was persistence and a few dollars.”
Local artist Septerhed, a street artist, but not defined as such, worked on a painting alongside the red carpet. The subject of the painting concerned with showing the reality of a person behind all the different masks we wear in our daily lives. Passersby stopped and looked on mesmerized as the artist worked.
Designer Hale Bob, a celebrity among the fashion cognoscenti, closed the runway show as people frantically took notes and cellphone photos. He was introduced as a special highlight of the evening.
The Hale Bob line shows a chic and distinct look and s can be bought locally. Oscar winning actress Halle Berry wears his designs as well as actresses Selma Hayek, Eva Longoria and Sofia Vergara.
Designer Meghan Fox sang on the runway live during the presentation of her designs as the models walked past.
Nathanaelle Couture opened to an audience that immediately quieted down amidst live music ending with a raucous applause. “Beautiful! Stunning! Thank you!” shouted an audience member when designer Nathanaelle Hottois walked on the catwalk at the conclusion of her design presentation.
Hottois comes Europe, from both Copenhagen and Brussels. Her parents are of Italian and Belgian ancestry.
The Nathanaelle Couture fashion expresses a combination of the Belgian influence of lace inspired by the passion of Italy. She explained that her couture creations add to the empowerment of women regardless of status whether they are students or career women.
“I create so that women around the world can feel beautiful, elegant, glamorous and feminine. I (aspire) for all of us to understand true beauty and aesthetic, thus the power of women to inspire the world,” Hottois said.
Many fashion shows are by invitation only. The LA Fashion Week Project Ethos night is open to the public.
Those lucky enough to have been present saw how craft comes alive with audience participation.
Future Elans might one day partake of this special night in Hollywood.