To kick off L.A. Fashion Week, designer Mike Vensel debuted his Fall/Winter 2015 collection. As a part of Concept Los Angeles, Vensel presented the audience with a design aesthetic that was the epitome of contrast, only featuring pieces in black, freckled with white or gold. As both an artist and designer, Mike Vensel’s artistic eye transitions well between both canvas and fashion. His clean lines and draping made for a cohesive, artful selection. 

SEE ALSO: NYFW Fall 2015: J. Crew Review

Vensel varied between one-shoulder necklines, asymmetrical bodices, surplice bodices, and handkerchief skirts. His final piece was a beautiful black dress with a halter neckline and open back. Neatly accessorized with a small and demure wire belt, the dress swished with every one of the model’s movements. The two large slits in the front and back of the dress gave such a conceptually-simple dress a statement feature.

Not only did it add to the motility of the piece, but it also provided a window to highlight the designer’s choice of footwear for his collection. Each model was seen wearing declarative, high-heeled ankle boots splashed with dashes of either white or gold, depending on the model’s outfit.

With an array of long and short styles—all in black—against an all white setting, Mike Vensel’s simplistic, but stunning, fresh style had an edgy appeal. The cuts and lines of his pieces provided polish and finesse to the ebb and flow of his collection. Several of his pieces included painted fabric, likely put together by the designer-artist himself. One standout of the selection was a black, high-neck, long sleeve dress, outlined with white paint tracing along the shoulders, arms, and back. 

Vensel’s theme of the collection was dignified and stately. Some of the models could be seen wearing gold or white crowns. He kept up this thematic aspect of the show by having his models strut along a taped crown pathway, instead of walking a traditional catwalk. Once each model was on the apex of a point on the five-tipped diadem, the center person would traipse up and down the middle as if it were the quintessential runway.

Mike Vensel’s artsy approach to his fashion week header was one that highlights the culture based within L.A. fashion. It is what defines L.A. as an emerging contributor in the sartorial realm, and proves it can stand alone. Contemporary and upbeat, edgy and trim, Vensel’s Fall/Winter 2015 collection, with its paint splattered pieces and paint dipped boots, was the crown jewel that started L.A. Fashion Week off on the right foot.

Contact Staff Reporter Abbie Stellar here.