Marissa Ribisi and Sophia Coloma presented their Fall '09 collection in the form of a giant inspiration board. A photo studio psych covered with a winding collage made up of pieces from their collection, a video projection, look book photos, scribbled on Post-It notes, French business cards and candid Polaroids illustrated the mood and mind of their muse, the fictitious wandering gypsy, Whitley Kros.

“It’s like you’re walking into her wardrobe,” said Ribisi of the installation style setting. “We wanted people to understand the brand better by getting the feeling and essence of who Whitley Kros is, so we decided to create her environment. She’s the kind of girl who takes Polaroids and is always sticking things in notebooks.”  She is also the kind of girl who travels -- a lot. Each season, the designers dream up their muse’s destinations and create the collection based on what she would carry in her suitcase. For fall she’s gone to Eastern Europe, then on to meet friends in the English countryside with a slight detour to London to shop-natch.

This meant a lot of eclectic pieces ranging from gray, turquoise and red harlequin print short dresses to red-and-black plaid biker jackets and shorts that looked like they came straight out of the early '90s grunge days. This collection also had more ethnic touches than seasons past. A red, orange and yellow squiggly horizontal stripe top was African influenced and a pair of black leggings with gold swirly embroidery down the leg looked like skinny matador pants.

The poster boy for skinny pants, Devendra Banhart was perusing the collection in stovepipe jeans and light pink Keds. Erika Christensen and Ribisi’s twin brother, Giovanni, also stopped by to check out the installation. The space and presentation allowed everyone to browse the line and details hanging on the wall all while mixing, mingling and drinking, proving that there may not be an official L.A. runway this season, but the show does go on.

-- Melissa Magsaysay

Photos of Whitley Kros Fall 2009 collection and installation. Credit: Melissa Magsaysay / Los Angeles Times

L.A. designers Sophia Coloma and Marissa Ribisi, known collectively as Whitley Kros, love big-and-bold prints. And they employ them well: emblazoning quirky, original artwork on oversized T-shirts (Ribisi's husband, Beck, has done some of the neon illustrations) and creating whimsical prints for fabric from the ground up for their easy-fitting silk tunics, dresses and separates.

But in past collections, the young brand has mixed more tailored, solid-colored pieces in with its breezy, boldly patterned looks -- to lackluster effect. But at their spring show Sunday night at Smashbox Studios, the duo seem to have finally found their niche, presenting a collection of easy-fitting printed pieces obviously made for upper-crust fashion girls, but appropriate for almost any woman (there's a "Golden Girls" vibe to some of their unstructured tops that I love). 

With their hair gathered in a lopsided top-knot on their heads and their faces nearly makeup-free, models marched out in louche jumpsuits, rolled baggy cotton pants, little silk floral dresses, and a bevy of cool tops, in prints that included fat colored stripes, abstract flowers, cartoon animals and a lovely pink-and-blue pastel plaid that looks like a washed-out watercolor (the fabric was also used for a sweeping floor-length dress with knotted straps, pictured below). The loosey-goosey looks were tempered by some great chambray denim pieces, including paper-bag waisted shorts and a blazer I could envision throwing over all kinds of dresses and tops (pictured above). 

Paired with most of the tops were pastel-hued cotton bloomers that intentionally fit a few sizes too big (not sure what the deal was with those; are they supposed to be worn outside the love shack?).

Inspirations for the collection, stated the program, included Allen Ginsberg, Morocco, Bob Dylan, African safaris and sunsets in Greece. And it was all in there, culminating in a sunny, optimistic-feeling show -- exactly what the world needs right now.

-- Emili Vesilind

Photos: Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times