Fashion connoisseurs piled in the Majestic in the heart of downtown for the 10th anniversary of Art Hearts Fashion in Los Angeles on October 19-22. Guests waited in tedious lines for over an hour, dressed head-to-toe in designer clothing to watch the runway of new, senior and retiring fashion designers legends. They were greeted by various art exhibits and photo opportunities with quality lighting equipment for all. Vivid colors were brightly spaced around the venue and followed by projection of animals such as sharks on the ceiling.

Logan Garcia traveled miles away by car from Arcadia, California with their family to attend. They enjoyed the venue change from Beverly Hills to downtown Los Angeles, as a regular Art Hearts Fashion attendee since 2015, excluding during the pandemic.

“I feel like it’s way more diverse than before and the artists are much higher quality,” Garcia said. “Beforehand, it wasn’t as beautiful. Today, there were different races and ages…but it was mostly the same [as of thin women], it could be better in representing non-binary folk.”

Founded in 2010, Art Hearts Fashion has long emphasized its creative shows as diverse and inclusive, but attendees spoke out about the show’s lack of representation on the stage and need for progression on particular runways. Regardless, the weekend of designers focused on featuring Latin and LGBTQ+ designers, including Mondo Guerra who won the first season of “Project Runway: All Stars.” Their designs this season stepped outside the box of media trends with vibrant colors and patterns, accompanied by electronic tunes.

“I think we’re having a huge opportunity for people of color… [I put] work out there that may not be necessarily understood, but inspires that small group of people that have to fight a little harder,” said Guerra after the show. “What I showed today was really from the heart. Creativity is more important than trends, that’s what I recommend for younger designers. Go against the grain.”

Additional designs included work by Michael Castello, who announced his retirement with a final runway that featured black, gold and red metallics with dramatic sparkling sheer material, as well as a beautiful pleated gold lamé metallic dress. Models walked fiercely as a projection of a roaring lion and fire intensively followed their tracks. To close his show, Castello’s whole family joined him on the runway. Castello posted on Instagram that interested customers should order directly from him, allowing fair payment and living for his family and employees.

The diversity in designers and their work also cast a wide net for audience members. One notable attendee was  executive producer of and inspiration for CBS-TV’s hit drama “Scorpion,” Walter O’Brien. O’Brien found the event to be a great opportunity to meet people of different backgrounds.

“In terms of shows, Castello’s was amazing,” O’Brien said. “He put a ton of work into it. Especially because it’s his final show. He blew it away.”

While not perfect, there was representation on the stage through the models themselves.

“This brings job opportunities for different types of people working behind the scenes, what live entertainment and fashion is really all about all in one place,” attendee MJ Racadio, one of the Blogtalk’s 75 most influential Filipino-Americans, said. ”Diversity was seen in the designers… Alexis Monsanto, Amiel Noble and Victoria Mejia showcased the Filipino [cultural] design which I appreciated in the melting pot… on the mainstreet runway.”

Although attendees varied in opinions on diversity and inclusion at Art Hearts Fashion this weekend, the prominence of connection over fashion and the opportunities it brings to have multi-hyphenates in the room of different backgrounds lays the foundation for future progress.

To read more about Art Hearts Fashion and view their latest work, check out their Instagram.