Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2006 at Smashbox Studios was a glitzy, star-studded affair underscored by fame, glamour, fabulous clothes, and juicy rumors. This season the whole gamut of the rich and famous, including infamous heiresses, gorgeous Hollywood sirens, world renowned bad boys and industry honchos, were in attendance once again in Culver City.

As usual the venue was a publicity fest. Topless models (their bosoms decorated with crystal tattoos) swaggered though the lobby, career bachelors pulled up in Aston Martins, celebrities posed with miniature Chihuahuas (or human accessories), editors bickered about seating assignments and tipsy stars got cozy in the VIP areas between the shows. Amusingly, most of these brazen attempts to garner attention worked like a charm, and the cameras clicked away nonstop.

We now present a captivating mélange of images chronicling the extravagant spectacle that was LA Fashion Week, for your reading pleasure.

Louis Verdad, the brilliant couturier to mega-stars, invariably attracts the most noteworthy names to his front row. This time around Paris Hilton, Anthony Keidis, Jack Osbourne, Lucy Liu, Kimberly Stewart, Gina Gershon, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Aisha Tyler, Rachel Leigh Cook, Michelle Trachtenberg and Richard Tyler were among those who showed up to applaud the gifted designer’s 1950s-inspired retro creations. Paris Hilton, sitting next to her new best gal-pal Kimberly (she had a falling out with pin-thin costar and ex best-friend Nicole Richie) and clutching onto a little girl, seemed utterly unfazed by the termination of her engagement to Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis, not to mention her highly publicized derogatory catfight with Valentino. But it was Lucy Liu who was the true luminary of the evening. Dressed in an elegant white Verdad skirt suit clinched at the waist, Charlie’s Angel was simply beautiful.  

Days before Carmen Kass took her first step down the St. John catwalk; the gossip cauldron began to boil with rumors. Some claimed Giselle Bundchen was being flown in from Brazil to christen the brand’s new, more youthful image with her famous strut. Others claimed Angelina Jolie had agreed to start the defile with a bang. Later, it turned out that St. John had decided to make its case for sophisticated grace with Kass, but until the very end people did not stop hoping for a breathtaking surprise. There to witness the reinvention of Marie Gray’s legacy were Lisa Rinna, Aisha Tyler, Taryn Manning, Mena Suvari, and granddaughter Kelly Gray – whose face has become synonymous with the knit wear label.

Famous people drifted in and out of other shows, but no one name managed to attract as many luminaries as Louis and St. John. Some of the other interesting personalities that turned heads were Charlize Theron at Pegah Anvarian, Kiera Chaplin at Coco Kliks, Mike Tyson at Bradley Bayou, America’s Next Top Models Eva Pigford at Shay Todd and Yoanna House at Sue Wong.

Attention grabbing antics aside, the LA scene is fun, colorful and relatively casual. Here, under the temporary spell of beautiful clothes glittering in the spotlights, both movie stars and everyday people come together to celebrate the art of fashion. Fame, money, paparazzi and scandals cease to exist and the world revolves solely around style. That brief moment of beautiful clarity, exalting imaginative creation, is what makes it all worth while.