Fashion week in O.C. keeps the focus close to home

The organizers and sponsors are understandably excited. They've put a lot of work into each night's doings, and they believe in supporting emerging fashion talent, says Kathryn Marino owner of HauteOC, a main sponsor and organizer of OCFW, which is the creation of the Orange County Fashion Association.

"After weeks of working with this group, I recognized and experienced first-hand some of the barriers that emerging designers face just to create a line, brand it and build it like a business. It's not something that can be completely achieved through a vocational school, networking events or a single prize scholarship fund," Marino said. "It takes perseverance through rejection, guidance, resources (and) corporate programs long after graduate schools. I have really been humbled by the experience. Recognizing that this group had gone through a lot just to give designers a chance, it hasn't been easy, and they've done so with a humble spirit."

But, I wondered, what would it take for Orange County Fashion week to be uttered in the same breath with Paris, Milan and New York?

Move to Paris, Milan or New York, says Marshall Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NPD Group.

"To be successful outside of New York, Paris or Milan, it's going to be about showcasing product on a local level; see what makes these lines special; get (local people) interested in fashion and to have an understanding what it would take to make this market different," he said. "Otherwise, it becomes no different than a mall fashion show."

Cohen suggests there is a market in Orange County and the region (Los Angeles' fashion week, still struggling to reach legitimacy, took place last week) because of the large apparel industry here. But he says a so-called fashion week must "go beyond surf and denim, beyond reaching the local consumer; it's reaching the fashionista at all levels."

Michelle Tyree, editor/creator of Fashion Trends Daily, a fashion and style website, agrees – somewhat – with Cohen.

"These areas make the mistake of having a 'fashion week' – it's not going to happen," Tyree said, explaining that the people you would want sitting in the front row at a fashion week – high-powered magazine editors and buyers, as well as celebrities – are all booked for the established fashion events. "The editors are not going to go to Los Angeles" or Orange County, she said.

But if organizers targeted consumer fashion instead of couture or designer ready-to-wear, they could be successful.

"The relevance is here (in Orange County) for contemporary or for surf, but they need to be smart about what they want that time to be, what they are trying to highlight. They should be focused on key industries here."

But OCFW – with its mix of local designers and relative unknowns from elsewhere – seems to be aiming for a charmed intersection of high fashion, avant-garde and consumer-friendly.

From the opening day accessories and jewelry event featuring several Orange County-based designers, to Wednesday night's menswear, race wear and tech-wear focus at Fisker of Orange County in Irvine, to Sunday's kids-wear runway in Laguna, there is something for the consumer.

Still, the final nights' lineups aim for that higher style profile the experts say is hard to hit. Thursday OCFW will present "Runway Expose" – emerging and established ready-to-wear designers; Friday features a late night "Avant Garde" designer show (during which models will appear on a glass catwalk at AnQi by Crustacean at South Coast Plaza) and Saturday's theme is "Haute Couture" Laguna Beach.

With these shows, Marino says, OCFA is staying true to its mission, which is "giving designers a chance and shining a spotlight on fashion in Orange County to grow into a business that can stimulate jobs in the local economy if they continue their retail work here."