LAmag.com

Modeling in your own fashion show is the new rite of passage for teens

In a downtown loft Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy” blared as Catherine Rex walked down a runway lined with footlights. She stopped and posed in an Armani skirt, a Geren Ford top, and Sergio Rossi heels. The fashion show wasn’t a press event—it was a sweet sixteen for Rex, who lives in Calabasas. Parents and siblings beamed from the audience as the high school sophomore and her friends strutted in authentic Dolce & Gabbana, Chloé, and Manolo Blahniks. “I’ve always wanted to do it,” says Rex. “Modeling is glamorous.” The event was a test by STYLE STAR (stylestar-la.com), a new company that produces participatory fashion shows for adolescents.

Mixing a passion for technology with a nostalgia for the educational and collaborative atmosphere of art school

Geek love: Mixing a passion for technology with a nostalgia for the educational and collaborative atmosphere of art school, CalArts grad Mark Allen opened Machine Project four years ago. One of L.A.’s most ambitious galleries, it displays the whimsical side of electronics with shows that have featured a flower-petal-spewing volcano, a robot driven by a cockroach, and musicians performing a piece scored by visitors feeding data into a computer.