Los Angeles Fashion Week is a time for designers to showcase their upcoming seasonal collections, a time for celebrities to show their faces and prove that they are the biggest fans of this or that designer, and a time for the media to roll tape. And most obviously, amongst the entertaining and eventful days of Fashion Week, it is a time when the stage is being set for trends and what will be hot for next season. These “trends” are what we, consumers, will eventually see trickle down into an affordable store and set on display for us to snatch up.

I have seen Stanley Clarke perform a few times: The Playboy Jazz Festival in Pasadena; his home, where I actually sat in with him once; and last week at the Catalina Bar & Grill on October 14, 2010. The man does not disappoint.

I have a general concept of what I want to create, especially as a whole series. But then for the individual pieces I’ll start with a piece of imagery or a drawing that I’ve done and just work with it. Especially when I do my drawings because it’s really free, although there’s no going back with pens. (Her latest series is created with blue and red ball point pens.) I build it up really slowly. It just somehow forms into something that I like.

Nowadays, for a new band to get presented a record deal, they had better do the hard work first—sell 200,000 units on their own, create their own fan base, get their own radio airplay, record their own music, and produce/finance their own videos. After they do all the hard work, then the label swoops in like a hawk and preys on them unsuspectingly.

Directives West previewed trends for spring 2011; and after having just returned from the runways in New York, I’d venture to say they really got it right with a Southern California twist. Previewed on the runway that rainy morning of October 4, 2010, was a variety of looks that were predicted to be popular next season, with over 170 looks, ranging from simplistic to comfortable to fun for contemporary, juniors, and girls.

It’s really amazing to be involved in this production and to be able to have complete control over everything. It allows us to bring our sponsors in—things that we couldn’t do before—working with IMG and Smashbox because they had their own sponsors. It allows us to have complete creative control over all the branding of the shows.

Next to lung cancer, breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women in the United States, and with technology and awareness, it has become very curable. About 1 in 8 American women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. With scheduled mammograms and early detection, the cure rate is high. It is safe to say that everybody is doing his/her part to create awareness, including the fashion industry. Below are a few brands that are giving back in hopes of wiping out this disease.

I have heard my girlfriends complain that their boyfriends changed their status without telling them, or some pervert showed his privates on her wall. Others posted offensive comments on their walls, inciting a verbal riot; and still others put links to porn or even illegal activity on their walls. Then there are the mellow account holders who display their family photos, recent trips to Disneyland, and their grandmother’s 80th birthday celebration. Still yet, depending on how many groups you belong to or friends you have, the barrage of messages, alerts, event invitations . . . is overwhelming. And the final straw is when you just sign on for a moment to check your messages, someone tries to chat with you. Usually some guy who thinks you’re cute and is scamming for chicks.

When Dizzy was performing, I was looking at him and pinching myself: “This man is actually my employee? I’m employing Dizzy Gillespie?” It’s quite a feeling! His performance was on Easter weekend. My husband bought a big lamb. We cooked it and invited all the musicians. We had a feast that Dizzy Gillespie always talked about.

While the fashion crowd went from studio-to-studio, we went from hotel-to-hotel, moving from one to the next to accommodate each hotel’s prior reservations. Our “hotel hopping” proved to be more fun than trouble, and the beautiful weather and close proximity made our moves easy. It was also economical and healthy; saving on cabs and walking all around the city helped us burn off the accumulated calories of too many desserts at New York’s finest restaurants, bakeries, and coffee houses.