Having nipped, tucked and made a number of alterations, backers of L.A. Fashion Week are hoping this year’s event which opened Sunday will be a better fit for the city.

Fashion industry types almost universally panned last year’s edition, citing a shortage of top-name designers, a dearth of creative flair and a lack of organization. Another frequent complaint and one rarely heard in L.A. is that there weren’t enough Hollywood stars studding the events.

“It’s not as good as it should be,” said M. Fredric Stores owner Fred Levine. “I don’t run L.A. Fashion Week, but what I would say is, we have an advantage over every other city in the world: We are in Hollywood.”

To head off any talk of the event becoming an industry footnote or just fading away, the event’s backers this year are focusing on quality more than quantity. This season’s show has 23 designers mounting full shows, down from the 32 that did so last season. The co-sponsors, Mercedes-Benz USA and Smashbox Studios, say the idea is to raise the quality of the designs.

“We wanted to tighten up the collection,” said Davis Factor, who along with his brother, Dean, owns Smashbox Studios in Culver City, where the event is held in a series of tents. The brothers also run Smashbox Cosmetics.

They turned down some applicants who weren’t quite ready for the prime time of the runway. “We wanted to show the people that we’re ready to show on the runway this season.”

Fashion Week shows, staged in October and March, allow designers about 12 minutes each to show off their new styles to media and high-end buyers, such as boutiques and even some department stores.

Last year, 35,000 made the scene, about the same as in previous seasons. Although attendance hasn’t declined, it hasn’t grown, either, and it remains far below the 100,000 or so who attend the New York show.

The Fashion Weeks in New York, Los Angeles and Miami are all run by IMG Fashion, which also owns a modeling agency. IMG is owned by private investment firm Forstmann Little & Co. Some designers think that ownership by IMG which refused to comment for this story has led to a cookie-cutter approach to the shows, and problems for Los Angeles.

“All they’re doing is supplanting their idea of what it is in New York, which frankly is boring,” said Michael Ball, president of Rock and Republic Enterprise Inc. His Culver City company, known for its $200 jeans and other pricey clothing, has grown well beyond the size of the average brand that shows at L.A. Fashion Week. He now stages shows only in New York.

Ball said that for him to come back to L.A., IMG would have to “get it together and see what L.A. is all about” by employing some Hollywood glamour and encouraging designers to be more creative and “different” in their runway shows.

In fact, the lack of high-end designers more than anything else concerns many participants.

Joe Richardson, department manager of brand publicity at Mercedes, said a roadblock to Fashion Week’s success has been big-name L.A. designers who chose to show elsewhere.

“I think we’d like to see some really big labels that don’t currently show at Smashbox (join in). Part of the evolving platform is drawing that big talent to the tents,” he said. “It’s an evolutionary process.”

But some, such as Rock and Republic’s Ball, are uncertain about Fashion Week’s future in L.A.

“L.A. had its run at it and it didn’t grow to the extent that one would have liked and people get bored. It didn’t make it,” Ball said. “Next!”

‘Calculated risk’

“We took a calculated risk when IMG decided to begin Fashion Week in L.A.,” Carol Goll, general manager of brand experience marketing at Mercedes, said of her company’s decision to sponsor the first local show five years ago, back when its prospects were even more uncertain.

Although the L.A. show has never gained the attention of some other shows, including Miami’s, Mercedes is interested in the L.A. show because L.A. is the car maker’s largest U.S. market. Mercedes also bankrolls the New York and Miami shows.

She allowed that the L.A. show could have done a better job of luring celebrities.

“At the time we didn’t recognize the heavy celebrity influence in the L.A. market and how correlated fashion and celebrity are,” she said.

This season, however, there is an emphasis on making the shows more exclusive and heading off complaints about lack of organization.

With little reserved seating and droves of non-industry wannabe’s, last year’s event became a rush for chairs that was nearly comical and frequently irritating, many said.

“There are a lot of people who love fashion and want to come see the show, and God love ’em, but a lot times they’re not really invited,” said Factor, a great-grandson of industry icon Max Factor and chief creative officer of Smashbox Cosmetics.

New check-in procedures are being instituted and many guests will get their seat assignments before arriving. Many of the tents will have fewer seats in an effort to create a more intimate atmosphere.

Other issues

Sandy Richman, a principal of retail consulting group Directives West, said L.A.’s fashion week was once a big draw for buyers. It’s now a bigger draw for the press and fashion fans.

“L.A. used to get the all the fashion directors and senior management of stores all over the country into California and I don’t see that happening anymore. I think we have a long way to go.”

The venue could be another matter.

“There is so much we can do and the challenge is finding the right location, whether we do it at Smashbox, move to Hollywood or downtown or maybe break it up,” Factor said. “But then there are the logistics and agreeing on a formula that’s going to work, season in and season out.”

What’s more, M. Fredric’s Levine, whose son Adam is the lead singer of Maroon 5, said the event should do more to connect with young Hollywood. If more shows incorporated the talent, he said, they’d get more coverage, be more exciting, and showcase L.A.’s best asset.

“I talk to my son about it and he’s so involved in fashion, it’s his second love,” he said. “There are so many celebrities that feel the same way. Why don’t they get them involved?”

Factor said he is looking for ways to better incorporate music and other staging effects that will let designers express themselves more freely.

Ultimately, L.A. may always have to play second fiddle to New York when it comes to fashion.

Still, Factor says Smashbox makes money on the show.

“I just wouldn’t say we’re getting rich at this point,” he said.