Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

By ALO Fashion Correspondent Diana K.!

Ok, so we are already late! Susanna [my fashion partner] and I were supposed be there before three because that’s when the show was supposed to start. We got there at 3:15 because of heavy traffic, took us another 15 minutes to find the parking lot and another 10 minutes to catch the shuttle to the Smashbox Studios. This officially broke my venerable "never drive in Los Angeles in rush hour to try and make an appointment” rule. Los Angeles is only be 18 miles from the office, but it takes between two hours and two days thanks to cell phones and roller coaster called the 405 that everyone is forced to take. To be accurate, you shouldn’t call it traffic since it’s more like sludge. Yet I digress.

ANYWAY, we got out of the fashion week shuttle and started running with our humongous heels and tight skirts. I had a two-pound camera hanging on my neck and a five-pound bag hanging from my shoulder while Susanna had a stack of papers which she was going through to find her press pass…all while we were running.

We finally made it to the door and realized that we forgot to take the tickets from the front. We started running again, we got to the front door, took our passes, and finally got into the show. Did I say we were a mess?

Morganne closing the Maggie Barry show

It all worked out though because we went right to the front row of the Octavio Carlin show. Everybody was staring at us as we casually took our premium seats. Everyone was wondering who we were since we had the best seats in the house and our fashionably late arrival seconds before the show opened only heightened the idea that we “must be something.”

So, the show begins and I take out the camera to get couple of good shots from the show. I put it on a completely wrong setting. I took pictures throughout the whole show and I thought I did a great job. I get out of the show and I see that I can’t view my pictures because they are completely black. I felt like Carrie on Sex and the City when she tripped on stage. If I could my memories of this incredible show they would have looked great (trust me!).

Apollonia and Jenna Jameson

Next up was Joseph Domingo. He completely nailed the show. It was young and elegant at the same time. Everybody was impressed with Joseph’s collection. He had beautiful models that seemed to perfect the cat walk.

After the show we got out and went to get our drink in the front area. There was a really good vibe and people were just having fun. The energy level was great and it set a really good mood for the rest of the day and we even had time for a talk with Nick Verreos from Project Runway.

Days 2 and 3 of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in L.A

We were more organized on the following days, thankfully since the shows were out of this world!

Ashley Benson

Samora just rocked the show with her stylish young but sophisticated collection. Her fall/winter collection was amazing. When she made an entrance on the stage at the end of the show, her mother got up from her seat and went and hugged her with tears in her eyes, just like any Middle Easterner mom would. We met Samora at the lobby and she was pretty exited to hear that we are featuring her in the next issue of ALO and thanked us for supporting her. We couldn’t quite get the idea of where she was from, the only thing that she said that she was a Middle Easterner. I figured: What’s the difference, they are all the same.

The next show was Monarchy (and I still have my mouth wide open when I remember my introduction to her fall/winter collection). The get-up-and-go style of the show was just astounding. There were a lot of celebrities including; Jenna Jameson, Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite, and a lot more. I don’t usually stargaze, but I would jump right in front of them to take pictures and of course I had to squeeze all the annoying paparazzi out of the way. The whole show was just wonderful. Both men’s and women’s collections were in style and had that youthful edge. They were a perfect example of what I find to be hot.

Nicky Hilton

After the exciting show we went and took more pictures with Pedro and his friends. Everybody was drinking and having fun. Smart Water was providing everybody with free water and there was plenty of free alcohol from all the sponsors—not for us though, we were working.

The whole thing was a great and fun experience and I’m proud to say that ALO magazine had a great presence there!