After IMG's well-publicized departure last fall from the Los Angeles Fashion Week scene left a vacancy for an owner of the show program, New York-based Rock Media and Entertainment intends to step in beginning next fall. The firm has planned a series at Paramount Studios on October 28 to 31, to be known as "Rock Fashion Week L.A." The company is also involved in the twice yearly Miami Fashion Week, known there too as "Rock Fashion Week," and in New York with Elle as a partner for a program called "Style 360."
Rock Media president Nicole Purcell, who has yet to distribute official releases or detailed information regarding the project, said, "It's the right time. We would have come anyway [even if IMG had stayed]. Our fashion division is growing bigger and bigger. The recession is still here, but it's slowly going away—let me knock on wood right now—and we thought the fall was the right time to come out."
The plans include three to four runway shows a night followed by after-parties. And the final night of the program will fall on Halloween. "We've been talking about doing a show that ended on Halloween, and this year it's on a Saturday—it just worked out perfectly," Purcell said. "Halloween is fun and festive, but also with New York Fashion Week in September, and Miami in October—looking at the calendar, it's a perfect fit."
Paramount has hosted fashion shows in the past. "In every city we look for a great venue, a place people want to come to anyway, which is why we chose Paramount. They're just the coolest people," Purcell said of the venue and its team.
Rock provides full-service production, and designers will "just have to come and bring their clothes and get ready for the fashion show," said Purcell, who has no full-time staff based in Los Angeles at this time. Additional vendors have been selected but not announced. Fees for designers will be about $10,000 for an hour slot.
Target guests include retailers and celebrities. "They're definitely out there, as much in L.A. as in New York. It will be an invitation [list]—not open to tbe public through ticket sales, but we're going to open it to a lot of people. We don't want to shut anybody out."
