Imagine being invited to the best dress-up party ever--with really great food.
It's every girl's dream, and last weekend, restaurateur and fashion
aficionada Elizabeth An and couture curator Christos Garkinos of
DecadesTwo.1 made it real for a glittering group of invited guests from
across Orange County society, who gathered for a sumptuous feast
and fashion show at An's South Coast Plaza restaurant, AnQi.
An, whose family owns Crustacean restaurant in Beverly Hills, has
long nurtured the belief that beautiful clothes and great food are
complimentary. So, when Bloomingdale's asked her to put a version of
her family's successful pan-Asian dining destination in their major OC store,
she decided to make her new restaurant a
place for fashion alongside the food by installing a full-scale
runway.
"I've always believed that food and fashion go together," said An,
who owned a clothing boutique in San Francisco for a time.
"There's something for all the senses: Great music, beautiful clothes and food."
For her premiere event this fall, An invited Garkinos -- know for his connections to the closets of Hollywood's rich and famous -- to show his
stunning designer clothes. HauteLook joined as a sponsor.
Garkinos stood proudly by the side of the runway Friday as a beautifully
turned-out audience exclaimed over the designer glitz making its way
past as they dined elegantly on Asian-inflected seafood. Afterward,
Garkinos -- whose DecadesTwo.1 store is not only LA's premier high-end
resale shop, but also a destination in its own right -- threw open a
pop-up store inside AnQi for two days of fantasy-fulfilling shopping.
(Actresses Selma Blair and Tracee Ellis Ross came down from Los Angeles
to browse and dine.)
There was an element of pure delight in seeing two of the hottest
contemporary trends--pan-Asian cuisine and pop-up stores--brought
together in a beautiful setting. The real joy, though, was in an
experience any girl would treasure--being invited over to your best
friend's and finding that her dress-up chest was overflowing with
designer glitter.
AnQi & DecadesTwo.1 Fashion Show
Images provided by Elizabeth An.