As Usual - Hollywood Today Has One Of First Reviews of Louis Verdad Show at BOXeight! See Photos At Link!

Verdad Gets Religion at BoxEight’s LA Fashion Week

Friday, October 12th, 2007

Designer Louis Verdad uses gentrified downtown church to showcase his Spring 2008 collection

By Juontel White

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 10/12/07—Designer Louis Verdad presented his Spring 2008 line to a crowd of fashionistas and business executives last night in a re-purposed church in downtown L.A., under a fashion week theme of “Have Faith in LA” and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in attendance.

The event took place at (St.) Vibiana, the former historic cathedral redesigned into a celebrity event space. It was part of Peter Gurnz’ ambitious BoxEight Fashion Week, an alternative series of Los Angeles runway shows that deservedly either complements or competes with IMG’s Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, which starts Sunday.

The shows help define LA Fashion Week as a community style signature beyond those designers showing at MBFW. It kicked off Thursday night with Project Runway winner Jeffrey Sabiella’s Cosa Nostra line, followed by the widely anticipated Verdad show.

Neutral walls accented splashes of colored windows with high-arching baroque style columns and lush greenery outside, providing a chic and elegant atmosphere for Verdad to showcase his work.

The crowd rushed to their seats after mingling in the plush garden and grandeur foyer. Some familiar faces could be seen opposite the runway, including Mayor Villaraigosa and R&B singer Bobby Brown.

The show began with an abstract modern dance performance, setting the tone for a hip and evening.

Models strutted their stuff in a variety of designs including, mod print dresses, pencil skirts and ruffled shirts.

Grays, blacks and silvers were a common theme but were often accented with an eye-catching print or contrasting material to give depth and texture.

A personal favorite was a sage silver bolero jacket paired with amber colored latern shirt and notched shorts.

In addition, a colorful flower print tab collar blouse with purple shorts was a surprisingly fabulous combo.

Verdad’s evening wear, for which he is most well known, also offered some stunning designs. A greyed taupe silk satin evening jumper was certainly a must-have.

Many of the formal wear, in an array of colors, were created from silk satin material.

Former Top Model contestant Eugena Washington ripped the runway in a rose-silk satin halter evening gown and—in the words of Tyra—the design was fierce!

The great quality about Verdad’s designs is that they are very much wearable while also making women feel beautiful, fashionable and feminine.

The show was one of the first in a series of fashion events sponsored by Box Eight Studios this weekend.

The studios consist of donated buildings which are then used to provide affordable space for designers, musicians, artists and directors to present their work.

Verdad’s show was the beginning to a full night of fashion as it was followed by a movie and another collection by Eduardo Lucero.

Born in Chicago, raised in Leon Guanajuato, Mexico Verdad says his work is inspired by the lavishness of the fashion conscious society women of Mexico as well as photos of Diva-esque women by Richard Avendon.

He also models himself after couture designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent and Scaasi.

Verdad’s reputation for quality construction and attention to detail earned him titles as “one of the 100 most influential designers of this era” by British publication Sample and “one of the 25 most hip Latinos in Los Angeles” according to a major Latino publication.