I still have goosebumps from the BCBG and Herve Leger Resort 2016 show, which took place at the Samuel Freeman LLC Gallery on Thursday night. The ever glowing Lubov Azria, the creative director for both brands, came out to present the collections. She very humorously explained that the Runway Collection was for the woman who does not have a job, because, she added, “its beautiful but not practical.” The Ready to Wear collection, on the other hand, is meant to be practical. The design team works on these collections for 8 or 9 months in advance, and I was absolutely stunned with each look as the models walked out to the beating of tribal drums.

For the BCBG Ready to Wear Collection, Azria was thinking of different vacation spots she wanted to go to, tropical weather, turquoise water, white sand beaches – think St. Barths. Anything that would take her away from the somber, gloomy weather that plagued LA during the month of March.

The BCBG Runway collection is Azria’s pride and joy. She states that, “Without something that you love in life you cannot grow.” One thing that became very clear during the night is that Azria is in love with art. She described how discovering an artist in France was the pure inspiration for the Runway collection. The artist takes photographs and paints African masks from the 1800s on top. Azria was so intrigued by this idea of old and new. She states, “We are supposed to know everything about the new technology, but we are still finding out bits and pieces.” As this beautiful collection made its way down the runway you could see images of African masks embroidered on top of the dresses. For me, it was absolutely breathtaking. I love it when designers combine art, travel, and culture into their work. I feel like they are all interconnected, and you can tell how amazing pieces come to be when you see the collaboration taking place as it was intended by the creator. It makes you appreciate the clothing many times more because you understand the story behind it, the culture behind it, the artist behind it, and the greater meaning of the fashion piece.

The inspiration for the Herve Leger collections, on the other hand, came from natural stones like agate and quartz, which she said were often worn on the breastplates of warriors to boost their courage. This was all seen through the traditional bandage garments that have always been true to Herve Leger. Azria states, I refuse to go away from the bandages. It is something that is so unique.” It molds to your body and takes confidence and grace.”

The artist that were displayed around the gallery were two men she found at the Melrose Trading Post Flee Market. Azria states, “You find the most amazing talent at flee markets.” She ended up chating with one of her usual vendors, and the gentlemen brought up that he creates art. She then said that they were having a fashion show in two weeks and wanted to collaborate with him and his team at Arcade Reattach Collective. I was amazed with what these guys came up with in the short amount of time they had. The art pieces were vintage canvases that they stripped, painted, and indigo dyed. They are all hand made and hand sewn in their studio downtown. These pieces really gave the collections life and made the whole show come together.