Far Flung Fashion Weeks Exposed
Oct. 27 2008, Published 7:07 a.m. ET
FASHION HO Chinese farmer
We didn't think you could get any more absurd than D.C. Fashion Week, but we were wrong: The past week saw the unfashionable triple-threat of the LA Fashion Awards, The Phoenix-Scottsdale Fashion Weeks, and The First Fashion Show of Farmers in Henan Province, China.
In Phoenix, even the local fashion-philes seemed puzzled by the fact that retirees clad in pastel, sun-damage, and turquoise jewelry would have any need for such an event. Angela Johnson, who tried to found a fashion organization in the area last year, put it frankly: "There really isn't a lot of need for it here...We don't have a fashion industry."
Over in China, the Farmer's show seemed similarly off-key, with the local press explaining that: "The models were farmers and they carried the implements of their trade, such as pickaxes and shoulder poles, when they did their catwalk runs." At least they came pre-emaciated!
While both of those events might have been well-intentioned mistakes, there's just no excuse for the L.A. Fashion Awards, at which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa declared: "This is where stars come to be born and where trends come to be born."
All hail L.A., proud parent to Uggs, orange tans, pocket-sized dogs, and deforested cooches!