LACMA Costume Council – Fashion Shows, Private Lunches and Museum Perks

The LACMA Costume Council had a very busy week last week!

The Costume Council is fun as all the ladies love to get dressed up. There isn’t a ring finger in sight that isn’t sporting a minimum of three carats of diamonds and a woman in attendance who isn’t wearing something absolutely divine and is a personality. These are the ways of the Costume Council ladies.

It started out on March 10th at the FIDM “Debut 2010” dress rehearsal runway show, put on by LACMA’s Costume Council for members at Barker Air Hanger.

Major highlights of the graduating students’ cutting-edge contemporary fashion collections included short skirts and long dresses including a long organza train wedding dress, a few vibrant colors, many muted nudes, a plethora of shimmer and sequins, a few blacks, sheers, laces, ruffles and even a collection of alpaca wool was involved. Crazy feathered hats and headbands were everywhere and one designer even styled her entire collection around an Alice in Wonderland theme with tall pointed cone shaped hats and massive oversize bows on her models’ heads.

If I had to pick one rising star from the day, I would say to watch for African born Kapasa Musonda. Her collection was rich with buttery cream silks, beautiful and unique short sexy architectural dresses and even a couple of long evening gowns and one piece silk jumpers that any fashionista would be more than happy to don out on the town.

My mom and I attended the Costume Council fashion show together, she has been a member of Costume Council for over ten years and I for five. As my Mom is one of my best friends, we love doing things together and she is uber involved in so many fantastic things in our city. The Costume Council is an invitation only support council of LACMA that hosts wonderfully interesting fashion related educational monthly events. When I first joined five years ago it was mostly women my Mom’s age, but the ladies are actively trying to bring in young fabulous women and over the years I have sponsored a few good friends to get into the group.”  http://www.lacma.org/membership/ACCostume.aspx

Next up on my agenda was another Costume Council event on March 17th; one of the regular monthly member lectures and lunches at LACMA.

Always a lovely way to spend a Wednesday afternoon (LACMA is closed to the public on Wednesdays so Costume Council members enjoy a private afternoon at the museum), this month’s event started out with a presentation in the Bing Theatre and ended with a delicious lunch on the Los Angeles Times Central Court.

The topic of the day was “Costume Design & Fashion in Film, A Conversation with Costume Designer/Stylist Arianne Phillips and Style Journalist Rose Apodaca”.

Wanting to share the Council and special day, I invited my friend Monique Konovalov (who I know from working on the board of MOCA Contemporaries together). We share common loves of art, fashion, shopping and um … sometimes obsessing over certain to DIE FOR Louboutins, fur coats, of other must have items.

Arianne Phillips is regarded as one of the best in the realms of film, music, and fashion and is an Academy Award nominee costume designer and stylist. She was nominated this year for a BAFTA for costuming Tom Ford‘s directorial debut film A Single Man. Rose Apodaca, pop culture and style journalist, interviewed Arianne on such topics as styling Lenny Kravitz and Justin Timberlake and her thirteen year collaboration as being Madonna’s stylist.

We enjoyed slides of vibrant and gorgeous ads and photo shoots she’d styled over the years and heard tales of her experiences doing costume design for film. She said she absolutely LOVES working with Madonna who constantly inspires her.

It was a fascinating day and I especially enjoyed it as I dabbled with costume design in my early twenties before deciding the hours were much too long and demanding. After working on a few Roger Corman films in Venice I went to Art Center for my graduate degree in Fine Art, though my two passions have always and will always be fashion AND art.