Fashion weeks are like summer camps for style sickos. Especially this year’s L.A.
Fashion Week, because every event happened at one single location: the W Hotel. You got to see your friends walk a show, or run into a stylist or press rep that you had to do a quick Google Image confirmation on because you only ever communicated with them via email. “You’re [enter name here], right? I’m Julissa, from Image.
Yes, it is so good to meet you in person. What part of town are you in? Coffee soon?” On a loop, all week. LAFW has had the reputation of being the underdog of fashion weeks in global cities, but its president, Ciarra Pardo, is focused on creating a new legacy.
L.A. deserves something of its own that is reflective of its relationships and desires, says Pardo, whose company N4XT Experiences acquired LAFW in 2022.
“What it hadn’t been doing was really celebrating Los Angeles,” Pardo says of fashion week’s past, pointing to a new kind of programming that is reflective of fashion’s relationship to the growing number of tech and beauty companies moving into L.A., and the city’s sustainable aspirations.
There’s also an energy that feels less rooted in tradition than in moving toward openness and experimentation. “We really support our designers and brands to have a more free-flowing approach, so they don’t have to go by traditional means whatsoever,” says Pardo. “They can show in a traditional runway format, they can show in a presentation, they can.
