LA Fashion Weekend makes Halloween colors chic.

By Laura Medina

Anthony Franco dress on the red carpet with Mikey Koffman.

To commerate the bigger, better, and more efficient Los Angeles Fashion Weekend under The Gallery LA's Mikey Koffman with Redlight Public Relations, the veteran Angeleno fashion designer, Anthony Franco launched it with an unconscious nod to the upcoming Halloween holiday, a collection drench in evening purple and autumn pumpkin.

He took the jack-o-lantern out of the squash then made this shade of orange chic in both womenswear and menswear.

Pumpkin is no longer a vegetable or a pie filling or an Halloween decoration, it is fashion.

Inquiring about how he came about for his sixth and final Los Angeles showing before splitting for Mexico City or Vancouver, Mr. Franco and his partner took a break in Mexico to recharge and refresh their batteries. They were welcomed by the perfect sunset.

The color palette and the patterns came from the ombre of colors of pink, red, and orange from the sky and the ocean blue...and the inky night.

The ocean waves also influence the textiles and the construction-a lot of flowing fabrics and ease of movement.

For the women, the gowns are built everything on corsets. That is the foundation and in keeping with the history of haute couture.

He is really into tailoring. Since he is has combined both womenswear and menswear into this collection, Anthony wants a cohesion to tie them together.

For the men's blazers, he used silk nubby or double-spun silk.

On the catwalk, Mr. Franco incorporated crystal bodice or jewel-encrusted wide, clinched-waists to deflate the puffiness of the billowing chiffon gown, giving them shape. For the men, he kept the nubbiness of double-spun silk for that neccessary roughness for Fall but kept the weight light and crisp due to silk's nature.

The pumpkin was balanced out with the bewitching violet from the Mexican sunset and evening sky. The best example was this stunning chiffon dress with the ruffled collar and the plunging V neck. The chiffon breezes with the wind, just like the ocean waves. This dress was outstanding enough to be profiled on the red carpet...with Mikey trying to take a bite out of it.

Without him knowing it, Mr. Franco took the kitsch out of Halloween Night's colors then subdue them down into a sultry palette, resembling a Van Gogh painting.

Thanks to The Gallery LA's operating the tent and the catwalk and Redlight PR managing the red carpet, Mr. Franco's last Los Angeles show was as elegant and smooth-rolling as the ocean waves. This is the respect and unfortunately, the final good-bye before he moves onto new markets.

Mr. Franco may move onto wider horizons but do keep your eyes on Los Angeles Fashion Weekend. With cooperation from Hollywood's top fashion agencies, it morphs and improves each and every time. A contender to IMG's long-ago LA Fashion Week?