Victorian-Chic Meets Rock N’ Roll – Leopard Print Menswear – Style Fashion Week Goes Wild With TAKEN and Paulie Gibson
Victorian-Chic Meets Rock N’ Roll – Leopard Print Menswear – Style Fashion Week Goes Wild
With TAKEN and Paulie Gibson
Style Fashion Week in Los Angeles, California has housed some amazing runway shows this week. Not only has the venue provided an evening show every single night this week but several mid-day shows have also taken place this season. On Tuesday the beautiful Vibana cathedral showcased two unique Los Angeles based brands, Jane Booke and Paulie Gibson. Both brands are showing for the first season and Style Fashion Week was the perfect debut for these two emerging designers.
Jane Booke, head designer of the line, TAKEN is an L.A.-based designer whose luxurious boho-chich designs have only just begun to receive rave reviews. The collection carries a wide range of English-garden party style dresses coupled with several Victorian and Renaissance inspired pieces. TAKEN is inspired by Rock N’ Roll and Jane’s personal love of the Victorian era. The debut collection, which is what she likes to call ”everyday couture,” includes dresses in silks, chiffon and linens and incorporates her attraction to Renaissance style and an appreciation for luxurious lingerie. The silhouettes are versatile, whimsical, and posses a feminine quality while still maintaining a bit of edge.
Several of the pieces in the line can be worn a variety of ways: belted, tied Grecian style, loose and flowing, the possibilities for Jane’s collection are truly endless. Jane, in combination with the clothing line has also recently launched a fragrance that she custom created. The fragrance is a direct extension of the clothing line, as it fits almost every personality the way her clothes do.
Jane partnered with expert hair stylist, Laurent of Prive Salons. The collaboration between Booke and Prive was a match made in fashion heaven. The expert team at Prive created specialty looks for Jane’s “everyday couture” look. The hair for the show incorporated several style’s of varying braids, and flowing locks mirrored the silk chiffon dresses that walked the runway.
Paul “Paulie” Gibson, a recent transplant to Los Angeles has always had an eye for fashion. Since a young boy the designer was fascinated with clothing, and started his career early designing for the elegant VIP’s of St. Louis. The Southwest Missouri State University graduate studied fashion design and went on to continue his studies in Paris. Upon his return Paulie landed a unique internship with dynamic design due and twins Dean & Dan Caten of Dsquared2 in New York. Having worked in all aspects of the fashion world, including 12 years in fashion retail, a few years modeling, fashion styling & wardrobe consulting, Paul is a true fashion aficionado. The designer’s contradiction between masculine and feminine is fundamentally the inspiration for every “Paulie” creation, though you may also catch the juxtaposition between hard and soft, day and night, or good and evil. Paulie says, “bottom line, be who you are and love every minute of it!”
This was exactly what was seen walking the runway on Tuesday. Although the collection was mostly menswear the pieces that walked the catwalk, could have easily been worn by any fashion-forward female, (myself included). The looks were bright, bold, and unique. Bermuda shorts in canary-yellow were paired with turquoise leopard-print silks and satins. Gold accessories complemented the collection nicely, and Paulie even threw in an all white romper with gold contrasting bias-tape for the ladies at the end.
Speaking with Paulie Gibson, the designer talked about his line and what inspired his collection: “It’s heavy on tribal culture and was a huge inspiration for me. Menswear is typically like, “all boys look the same” I wanted to bring more personality to my collection with pieces that can add to a man’s wardrobe. Fundamentally I have that juxtaposition between masculine and feminine. I love using chiffons for top weights and using silks and rayon challis and infuse it into what I want to do. I try not to think so much about what is trending. These pieces are made to be integrated into ones closet easily.”
Tuesday was just the tip of the fashion-iceberg if you will, with the rest of the week showcasing several designers. Tuesday evening’s line up included brands; Local Socialite and Madison Park Collective. Check our archive section for features on both those brands. For more information on TAKEN and Paulie Gibson please visit: http://www.takenbyjanebooke.com/ and http://pauliegibson.com/
- Dana Elizabeth
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