Odilon’s post-apocalyptic romp makes an impression

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Los Angeles Fashion Week had already ended (twice) by the time we stopped into a fashion / film collaboration Wednesday night, and honestly, the last thing we wanted to do was navigate a seedy stretch of Sunset Boulevard en route to a dinner party. But boy, we’re sure glad we did, since it acquainted us with a new designer whose work --and name -- we’re all likely to see more of in the future. That name is Stacey Clark, a 2008 FIDM graduate who hails from Victoria, Canada. Holding court at the Eighth Veil Gallery while ‘Dual,’ a five-minute collaborative film by Alia Raza that featured the designer’s clothes on Alli McCullough Cripe and Annakim Violette (the latter of which also happens to be Tom Petty’s daughter) spooled in the background, Clark, whose long red hair, fair skin and sleek black hobble dress (from her own line) made her come across like a flame-haired version of Morticia Addams, explained that her label Odilon was named as an homage to the French post-Impressionist painter Odilon Redon.

‘He’s one of my favorites because he started out as an Impressionist and then he went in a dark direction,’ said the former art history student, adding, ‘I hate the sunlight.’

While that may sound like high-brow art snobbery, the collection was full of surprisingly wearable pieces, including a black wool and leather double lapel jacket, a black sponge neoprene vest, a rain slicker made from a nylon-coated, blaze-orange spiderweb organza, and a rabbit fur vest with a Hazmat orange underdye that managed to look dangerous and delicate at the same time. The black leather ‘ball bag,’ suspended from silver chains and a black leather wrist strap, were just naughty, but in that salable Alexander Wang way.

And if those nylon-coated jersey leggings looked and felt a bit off-puttingly like human skin (or ‘zombie skin,’ as the publicist offered), you can chalk it up to the dark aesthetic that seems to seep into so many Southern California-born designers from Rick Owens to Rodarte.

This designer’s inspiration was post-apocalyptic, ‘the idea of a rabbit living near a nuclear power plant,’ she said. (Clearly Clark enjoys the idea of living on the edge; the film was made six hours after the last earthquake, right over the San Andreas fault.)

Odilin officially debuted last season, making this just the second outing for Clark and assistant designer Harold Kuhn. The line is on target to be stocked at 4510 in Dallas, Switch and Curve in L.A., and prices range from $100 to $1,700 but average in the $600-$700 range.

Since the line is completely designed and manufactured in Los Angeles, we had to ask about the prominence of the raincoat in the collection.

‘Where I come from it rains for nine months of the year,’ Clark said. ‘My mother would kill me if I didn’t do a raincoat.’ -- Adam Tschorn and Booth Moore

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