Valli rushes from Fashion Runway to scour Los Angeles for Inspiration.
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TREADING THE BOARDWALK FOR FRESH IDEAS

Fashion designer Giambattista Valli gives a benefit show and
basks in the weirdness and inspiration of L.A.

By Booth Moore
Times Staff Writer

April 14 2003

Now that the fall runway shows are over, the fashion world is on style safari. This time of year, L.A. is a destination for designers hunting ideas for their new collections. Local vintage stores are a creative wellspring, but so, too, is Venice Beach. Which is why Giambattista Valli, who designs the ready-to-wear collection for Paris fashion house Emanuel Ungaro, made a beeline for the boardwalk as soon as he arrived last weekend.

"There was this Indian guy who was wearing a turban and roller-blading, and he had this technical-looking gear on his knees and a technical-looking backpack," said Valli, who had undoubtedly had his first encounter with Venice's famous roller-blading bard Harry Perry. "I love the mix of cultures."

Over coffee on Thursday morning, the 36-year-old designer recapped his first few days in L.A. He visited Maxfield (where he bought a pair of Libertine parachute pants with a skull painted on one leg) and Henry Duarte on Melrose Avenue (where he has his eye on some of the denim designer's new luggage). But as much as he was enjoying taking in the local scene, that wasn't why he'd come.

Valli was in town to reprise his fall fashion show, presented in Paris last month, at a benefit for the Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica. The event took place Thursday night at the Mediterranean-style Santa Monica estate of actress Heather Thomas and her husband, Skip Brittenham, Harrison Ford's attorney.

A tent had been erected in the frontyard next to the Brittenham children's teak playhouse, which rivals the size of some homes. A white runway, sprinkled with fake snow and glitter, was the backdrop for Valli's ethereal-looking collection of icy pink and gray ruched leggings and airy chiffon tunics, some with words such as "love" and "liberte" printed on them.

At the show, Simon Doonan, the irreverent New York Observer columnist and the creative director of Barneys New York, was enthusiastic about the young designer. Valli, a Rome native, is still an unknown compared to Ungaro, who continues to design the fashion house's couture line. "He's like a secret weapon, which is kind of refreshing in a time when designers are so over-hyped," Doonan said, before moving on to talk about his new book, "Wacky Chicks: Life Lessons From Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women,"...

Sandwiched between Calista Flockhart and a very pregnant Brooke Shields, actor Ford tried to look interested as the two woman chatted over him about the clothes. Lucy Liu was also runway-side, along with Fran Drescher, dressed in a clingy beige-and-cream chiffon gown, with a matching dog in her arms. And everyone (except Shields, of course) was drinking splits of Moet & Chandon, not with a straw (that's so last year), but from a plastic cone stuck into the top of the bottle, like an adult version of the sippy cup.

Perched on the back of a couch, Lisa Rinna was also eyeing the collection intently. A fixture at L.A.'s just-concluded fashion week, the actress plans to open a store called Belle Gray on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City next month. "It's a natural evolution of my love of fashion," she said.

Backstage, Valli couldn't get enough of the stars and the sun. "It reminds me of Rome," he said. "I only wish I could change my flight and stay longer."

Los Angeles Times: Treading the boardwalk for fresh ideas
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