Los Angeles Style Fashion Week Opens with a Goddess: Sue Wong

LA Style Fashion Week started October 15th at The Reef in downtown Los Angeles with the Sue Wong mega-show “Fairies and Sirens.”

“I design stories,” says Ms. Wong. “My designs and clothes are my words … that is my real expression.”

And what stories she tells!! “Fairies and Sirens,” her Spring/Summer 2015 Collection presentation, sold out its 900-seat venue, with enthusiastic dignitaries, celebrities, and fashionistas abounding, including Miss J Alexander and Wong’s celebrity model for the evening, Katie Cleary, America’s Next Top Model.

Before the show, Ms. Wong received Tiffany and Company’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Design, an award which speaks for itself.  Musician Dave Navarro and actor Vincent De Paul made the presentation.

And then the show began! “Fairies and Sirens” is an intricate weave of the sacred and the profane, a mesmerizing story of old Hollywood glamour, sophistication, and elegance – shear liquid poetry, and, interestingly, set to the music of a rock opera with seven acts and a finale.  This entire extravaganza was conceived and organized by Ms. Wong, down to the smallest detail.

The motif of the show is the juxtaposition of contradictions: the light, ethereal, and poetic Fairy vs. the dark, haunting, and seductive Siren.  Sue Wong’s designs magically bring out both the Fairy and the Siren in each woman, either alternately or simultaneously.  The designer’s credo offers us hope: as she says, though we often fly into fires that burn us to a smoldering crisp, such fires enable us to transform ourselves into our higher selves, “so we can then be the quantum potential Phoenix that rises from the ashes to soar once again.”

With that philosophical and psychological outlook, we advance to the fashions displayed.  76, yes 76, cocktail dresses and gowns, many with elaborate headdresses, just flowed down the runway, seamlessly, amidst mountains of fabrics such as lace, chiffon, organza, taffeta, and satin, and mounds of embroidery and beading, the latter two being Wong’s trademark and métier.

It is indeed hard to pick out the standouts of a show where every design is a star, but a taffeta black and white gown and coat ensemble with chrysanthemum and Phoenix embroidery most certainly caught the eye  — this was a creation to die for!
Another stellar design was a rose-colored strapless ball gown featuring satin and soutache, with an embroidered bodice, a beaded waistband, and a rosette skirt. 

And, voila, the perfect little black dress: a black and white cocktail dress with a one-shoulder sheath design, bedecked with satin ribbon.

Ms. Wong succinctly yet poetically sums up her show as follows: “‘Fairies and Sirens’ moves hypnotically between the darkness and light which constitute our human condition: a chiaroscuro dance of operatic proportions.”  Indeed, it was!

The stunning headpieces featured in the show were made by Miss G Designs, Lisa Marinucci, FIORI Couture, Kicka Custom Design, and Sue Wong. The adorning gorgeous and elaborate necklaces were from Vilaiwan Fine Jewelry. 

Fashion icon Sue Wong has been designing since she was a child and has been in business since 1985. She is the true “Goddess of Old Hollywood Glamour” and herself its incarnation. Her designs are a worldwide phenomenon and can be found in 28 countries, and in such stores as Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Saks, Nordstroms, Macy’s, and Lord and Taylor.

“Beauty,” she says, “has the power to transform through transcending any limitation, self- or otherwise imposed; so, I present my Sue Wong inter-dimensional Goddesses, who reign Beauty, Magic, and Transformation.” For more information, go to: www.suewong.com