West Coast Trend Watch

There’s plenty to keep West Coast fashionistas busy lately. In Los Angeles, the Otis College of Art and Design devised a new curriculum welding together creativity and technology, slim dresses and wide pants loomed large at holiday-resort shows, and Playboy collaborated with West Coast fashion labels.

With goals of leading the world of fashion design, the Otis College of Art and Design created new programs to help facilitate this objective. Students will be encouraged to work with apparel vendors on distinctive projects, which include the development of textiles made from corn and flax, as well as using dyes from coffee and beets. Another opportunity available to students was the recently completed three-year design apprentice program with The Warnaco Group Inc., where 10 students competed for a spot as associate designer at Warnaco’s swim group. Beginning in their sophomore year as interns, five were chosen to partake in the design program as juniors and three of those students were selected to carry on into their senior year. The winner of the competition was recent graduate Richard Mesich, who began his stint as associate designer in June. In addition to Warnaco, the college has also collaborated with Nike and Patagonia.

The dress is here to stay. Although the preferred styles at the resort-holiday shows held in downtown Los Angeles were free flowing smocks and shifts, many of the dresses had an updated feel. Many silhouettes were substantially slimmer and shorter, chock full of bold prints and metallic accents, available from California based companies Ever and Johnny Was, which produces seven apparel collections. Pants are another must-have trend for fall, especially the fuller, wider leg styles from Rock & Republic and Charlotte Ronson.

Amidst decreased revenue on the publishing and entertainment ends, Christie Hefner, daughter and chief executive officer of Playboy Enterprises Inc., hopes to bolster the company’s “hip” factor through a series of joint ventures with trendy West Coast fashion labels, including White Trash Charms, Topless California and Unger Fabriks. More than half of Playboy’s $800 million in global retail sales of licensed products are comprised of apparel, lingerie, swimwear and cosmetics. The White Trash Charms line of jewelry is sold at Kitson in Los Angeles and includes 14-karat gold plated and sterling silver silhouettes of a woman in bunny ears. Topless California is replicating images of LeRoy Neiman’s 1957 fictitious Playboy character Femlin, with t-shirts retailing for $67.50. The brand’s five-year licensing deal with Unger Fabriks includes the launch of activewear label Playboy Physical, as well as trendy details such as brushed French terry and overdyeing introduced to the Playboy line.