The newest styles, models, Hollywood stars.

Must be the opening of another hip nightspot, right? Nope, it was Woodbury's 38th annual fashion show.

The sold-out show at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles drew more than 500 guests and the appearance of special guests Bridget Fonda and John David Ridge brought out Hollywood photographers.

Proceeds from the show fund scholarships for deserving fashion design students and benefit Woodbury's vintage fashion collection.

Trend-setting actress Bridget Fonda is best known for her starring roles in such hit movies as Single White Female, Jackie Brown, and A Simple Plan. John David Ridge, former vice president and design director at Halston, is a Tony-nominated costume designer. His current contribution to fashion and entertainment centers on the technical execution and production of some of theater and film's best-known designers' work for a wide array of major films including The Grinch, American Beauty and Coppola's Dracula, as well as Broadway productions such as Sunset Boulevard and Phantom of the Opera.

The professionally staged and modeled fashion show featured more than 100 garments designed by Woodbury's creative fashion and costume design students. Selections included couture collections, plus size, sportswear, costume design and career looks.

Woodbury alumna Helen Gurley Brown of Cosmopolitan magazine fame was honorary chair of the show, with distinguished alumna Judith D. Tamkin serving as fashion show advisor. Heather John, senior style editor for the Los Angeles Times Magazine, emceed the event.

Titled Théâtre de la Mode (French for "theater of fashion"), the show's theme refers to the traveling exhibition of 1946 that established the preeminence of post-war French haute couture and affirmed the fundamental relationship which exists between theater and fashion. Woodbury's event was the result of the cooperative efforts of several of the departments in the university's School of Architecture and Design, making the selection of Théâtre de la Mode particularly appropriate since it evokes the collaborative effort of France's greatest fashion houses and theatrical designers.

The original Théâtre de la Mode exhibition is now housed at Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, Washington.
 

Photo courtesy of Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale, Washington

Fast Connection (DSL) *
Slow Connection (56K/ISDN) *

 
* To view the movie, you must have Windows Media Player version 6.4 or above. If your connection speed is slow the entire movie may load before playing. This could take several minutes.
Get Windows Media Player