LA Fashion Week 2026: Inside Art Hearts Fashion’s Runway Moments and Afterparty Energy
- By: Ani Gutierrez | Photos: Mark Gunter - GETTY
Three nights, countless collections, and just enough voguing to make you wish you joined in: inside Art Hearts Fashion 2026 at LA Fashion Week.
If you want to spot the LA Fashion Week crowd, it’s simple, just follow the sound of whispered critiques and the intersecting trails of fashion-forward tastemakers weaving through the city’s pulse.
From March 12-14, that rhythm was leading straight into The Majestic Downtown, where Art Hearts Fashion took over the historic DTLA landmark for its three-night LAFW showcase.
Walking in on Friday evening felt like stepping into a world shaped entirely by fashion, where every movement, glance, and detail carried intention. Guests, models, and designers mingled near the bar, photographers scanned the room for moments that demanded to be shot, and the industry’s regulars chatted like they hadn’t seen each other since the last afterparty.
The room hummed with that particular mix of anticipation and social choreography that defines fashion week anywhere, but with an unmistakable LA twist. The crowd looked exactly how you’d imagine a LAFW audience: equally insider-chic and LA-cool with, of course, a healthy amount of sunglasses worn indoors.
Making our way up the dramatic marble staircase, heels clicking and skirts trailing, we stepped onto a balcony alive with art installations and photo-ready moments where guests drifted between installations. Camera flashes ricocheted from every direction as we admired the art and speculated about which collections were about to dominate the conversation.
When the lights finally dimmed and the steady beats erupted, the room shifted instantly from cocktail chatter to collective focus. Then we slipped into our seats, front row, which meant living in the splash zone of dramatic hems and gowns grazing your feet.
From this angle, I had an almost microscopic view of the craftsmanship behind each piece, as I admired the obsessive details: the tiny stitching, the way a sleeve holds its structure, the exact moment a silhouette hits its stride halfway down the runway. It’s one thing to see runway photos later, but it’s another to watch every bead, embellishment, and silhouette move in real time.
The bass came in first, heavy enough to vibrate through the floor, followed by a montage of past seasons flickering across screens from LA to New York, Miami, and Las Vegas, before the first model stepped into the light.
Friday night’s lineup featured Marina Safina, Richard Hallmarq, Samuel Gartner, Bad Pink, Scathed Fashion, Idol Jose, Angelo Estera, Swiss Digital Design, and Morfium Fashion, each collection bringing a completely different mood to the runway.
Each look made its way down, collecting quiet gasps and murmurs of admiration. I found myself pulled toward the darker corners of the lineup, like Bad Pink, Scathed Fashion, Richard Hallmarq, and Morfium Fashion. They all leaned into moodier palettes, striking patterns, and daring silhouettes, delivering looks that felt dramatic and unapologetically bold. Across the spectrum, Angelo Estera offered a completely different fantasy: delicate lace, pastel hues, and gowns so intricately embellished they radiated a royal elegance.
Just as compelling, Marina Safina leaned into sculptural couture, delivering whimsical, fairytale-like pieces layered with intricate embellishments and punctuated by playful, attention-commanding accessories. Samuel Gartner explored the tension between structure and fluidity, from crisp bubble skirts, bold patterns, dangling bows, and sheer, flowing dresses that danced with every step.
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The evening offered plenty to admire, but one mid-show highlight came courtesy of Hallmarq’s collection, when a model didn’t just walk the runway, they vogued down it. Mid-strut, they broke into a full voguing sequence at the end of the runway, striking poses that had the crowd cheering, phones raised and jaws dropped. It was pure ballroom homage, the kind that inevitably calls back to Paris Is Burning, where voguing first entered cultural mythology. For a split second, I almost considered leaving my seat and joining them.
Art Hearts Fashion seems to thrive on moments like that. The moments that break the polite rhythm of a runway walk to remind you that fashion is just as much of an experience as it is design.
Once the final looks disappeared backstage, the night didn’t end there, it simply moved right next door. Following each night’s shows, the crowd migrated to the official afterparty at The Reserve, where the runway energy carried straight onto the dance floor. Models, designers, and guests mingled under the neon lights while drinks flowed, swapping thoughts on standout looks from both the night and the previous evening, trading praise for the designers who had filled the weekend with creativity and spectacle.
AHF’s three-day program leaned into global variety, featuring a lineup that spanned emerging talent and established names alike: Angelo Estera, Bad Pink, Alexis Monsanto, BDC Upcycle Grunge, Cross Colours, David Tupaz, George Styler, Giannina Azar, Glaudi, Idol Jose, Idyllwild Arts Academy, Kentaro Kameyama, Lindsshh, Maribel JD, Marina Safina, Merlin Castell, Mister Triple X, Morfium Fashion, Nathalia Gaviria, Pia Bolte, Richard Hallmarq, Samuel Gartner, Scathed Fashion, Swiss Digital Design, Textiles De La Rossa, and Will Franco.
Spilling back onto the DTLA streets, the fashion week adrenaline slowly settled as the city hummed around us. By then, the runway looks were already starting to blur together in that dreamlike way they tend to, with textures, silhouettes, and flashes of dazzling embellishment replaying in fragments.
It’s a ritual that AHF seems to know well: a weekend where fashion, art, and performance collide, leaving moments that linger long after the final look fades. By the time Fashion Week ends, your memories are dotted with sequins and just enough voguing to make you want to join in next time.
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