It wasn’t all that unexpected when last week Smashbox Studios and IMG said that they would part ways just as soon as this week’s LA Fashion Week sponsored by Mercedes-Benz was over. IMG, the giant New York fashion week organizer, and Smashbox Studios, known for their giant photo and exhibition spaces in Culver City, had come together in 2003 to house LA Fashion Week as one big show based on the fact that both were hosting their own smaller versions and in essence, were competing with each other.
IMG hosted their version of LA Fashion Week in the burgeoning area of downtown LA at The Standard Hotel, while Smashbox hosted their version at their own studies on the west side of LA. In 2004, they came together to host LA Fashion Week at Smashbox (on the west side), but using IMG’s production capabilities, marketing, and pr.
However it was not necessarily a happy relationship and over the years, mini LA Fashion Week shows continued to pop-up downtown, attracting hipsters from downtown and the east side of LA, during the “westside’s” fashion week.
In the future, Smashbox will host their LA Fashion Week someplace in Hollywood, supposedly as a cross between the westside and eastside or downtown, freeing up the Smashbox studio spaces again, which have had to turn away business during LA Fashion week because all of their space was taken.
IMG on the other hand, will continue to keep with their international fashion weeks, including Mumbai, India, Berlin, London, Sydney, and of course, the Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week.
