LC's Holiday 2008 collection

I had the chance to attend Lauren Conrad's fashion show as she helped kick off the first ever Style Week at the Irvine Spectrum Center in her hometown of Orange County. She showed off her Holiday 2008 collection--a parade of pretty dresses and separates. I think her clothes have definitely evolved since her earlier collections, but the design aesthetic is still very simple and straightforward. However, I have hope that with more experience, LC will rise to the challenge and garner more respect in the fashion world. Who knows? She is still only in design school, after all...

While the clothes mostly consisted of solid colors like black, gray, cream, purple, and burgundy, this blocky, multicolored print kept popping up on the runway. The more I saw it, the more it grew on me. They used the print in a few high-waisted skirts and cute party frocks.

This model strutted down the runway in skintight black leggings, a black tube top, and an ivory-colored wrap.

She was outfitted in a black tube top, high-waisted tulip skirt with a bow in front, black stockings, and heels--super chic and feminine.

Lauren came out to take her bow when the show was over. Here she is holding a bouquet of flowers from her dad.

The models taking their last walk down the runway. Every single one of them was super tall and leggy! Loved that sunny yellow dress on the model in front.

Lauren at a press conference afterward, looking even more beautiful in person. During the few minutes we spoke, she was a total sweetheart and such a California girl with the tan, the blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing one of her own designs with sky-high black Yves Saint Laurent shoes and a sparkly headband!

Lauren Conrad's fashion show

Read below for an excerpt from New York Magazine's article by The Fug Girls.

Inside the Sad, Bizarre World That Was the Lauren Conrad Show

We're not sure even Audrina would wear this stuff.Photo: Getty Images

Also absent from the venue was anyone recognizable from Lauren’s former place of employment (er, “employment”), Teen Vogue, any celebrities willing to admit they totally love The Hills, or any decent fashion. We don’t say that with (much) glee. We went into the show completely prepared to like it, to be embarrassed by liking it, and to spend the rest of the week being defensive about liking it. This did not happen. Lauren claimed the line was inspired by her recent trip to Paris, and given how obviously and ham-handedly this influence was translated into the clothes, we’re frankly surprised she didn’t style the girls with baguettes and giant wheels of Brie. Let’s just say…there were berets involved, and, overall, the collection was sadly kind of tragique. We expected a line of derivative but serviceably-adorable cocktail dresses much like what Lauren herself wears around town — you know, the type of stuff she probably bought a season ago from BCBG and loved. Instead, we got paper-thin leggings with lazy and plain triangle shirts, cheap-looking fabric more befitting a Target line than anything you’d pay boutique prices for, and a terrible color palette that would give Michael Kors an aneurysm.

We understand the desire to strike while the iron of her celebrity is hot, but, overall, the effort felt very young, in the sense that Lauren probably needs a few more years of design school before she’s ready to take on anything this ambitious. Photos do the line more favors than an up-close look — hardly anything was properly fitted, many of the dresses bunched in the back, and one model’s boobs were totally squeezing out of the top of her dress. Our greatest moment of joy was seeing Chantal, the runner-up from last cycle of America’s Next Top Model, strutting down the runway — but even that was tinged with sadness, because, seriously, the girl still cannot walk and may even have regressed since she was last under the tutelage of Miss J.

Taken from: http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/03/inside_the_sad_bizarre_world_t.html