Calling all cookie monsters! You won’t want to miss LA Cookie Con and The Sweets Show on Saturday, Sept. 22 and Sunday, Sept. 23 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The event has quadrupled its space from last year and there will be free samples from 70 local shops as well as national brands. Celebrity chef headliners are “Ace of Cakes” Duff Goldman and Adriano Zumbo, star of Netflix new show, “Sugar Rush.”

New this year is The Sweets Show with three stages for celebrity appearances and workshops. Aspiring bakers will learn about traditional, gluten-free and paleo baking, and experts will share tips and secrets on cake decorating. Goldman will lead a workshop in which chocolate bunnies “come to life” and Zumbo will show fans how to make a cheese-less cheesecake. You-Tube wunderkind, Rachel Fong of “Kawaii Sweet World,” will also be on hand.

Bring the whole family because the Kids Zone will have free face painting, cookie decorating, crafts, games, special treats and more.

Proceeds from the Decorator’s Showcase competition’s entry fees will benefit Smile Train and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.

LA Cookie Con and The Sweets Show

Where: Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim

When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday Sept. 22 and Sunday, Sept. 23.  VIP ticket holders get early admission at 9 a.m.

How much: $25 for adults; $12 for children for a one-day pass. Two-day passes are $45 and $22 for children. VIP passholders ($57 for one day pass, $59.95 for a two-day pass) will be treated to early admission, two VIP rooms, a tote bag and an exclusive selection of samples, including spirits. Get tickets by visiting thesweetsshow.com.

Amanda Wakeley journeyed deeper into North Africa with this collection of safari suits and breezy dresses with patterns inspired by vintage ocelot prints, painted tiles and tapestries. During a walk-through at her flagship and showroom on Albemarle Street, Wakeley said she’s treating the seasons as a continuum and a series of layers, with themes that develop over the months and regular drops throughout the year.
This spring outing was packed with lots of snappy tailoring, including an olive safari suit and stone-colored suede safari jacket, which Wakeley paired with a long black belt. The ocelot pattern worked its way onto lightweight kimono tops and maxiskirts, while a long, kimono-style dress had long fringes on the hem. Languid jackets and wide-leg trousers came in olive or creamy satin.
Wakeley also showed off a new collection of sunglasses, jewelry and bags made from sheared kangaroo. She has been increasingly reaching out to her consumers, with lucrative QVC appearances and trunk shows at the store. She’s also planning a six-month pop-up at Bicester Village outside London.

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Natasha Zinko is adding some serious street cred to her collections and gaining momentum along the way.
For spring 2019, she took over the exterior of the Chelsea Postal Sorting Office to present her collection right where she wants to see it being worn — on “real girls” and on the street. She delivered an entertaining spectacle, with a vintage Seventies bus arriving on the sidewalk to drop off the cast of cool girls, led by Winnie Harlow, who modeled the new collection to the sounds of rap music.
Zinko, who has always imbued an urban attitude in her collections, upped the streetwear ante this season with a lineup filled with deconstructed tracksuit bottoms, cropped sweatshirts in glossy fabrics, patchwork denim and racey corsets made up of logo straps.
As one of the few female designers to dabble in streetwear, Zinko offers an interesting take on the category by blending the androgynous and the feminine and playing with a bolder color palette.
Highlights included a voluminous, strapless gown created using cotton jersey, a cropped sweatshirt mixed with a pastel pink vinyl pencil skirt and oversize hoodies worn with flowing, neon yellow skirts.
“We had fun with this collection, maybe even a little too much fun,” Zinko

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Hot talent Richard Quinn was always going to have the problem of outdoing himself: At last season’s show, the Queen sat in his front row and later handed him the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design.
This time around, the Queen wasn’t there, but Quinn still held his audience in thrall with a show of shimmering couture-inspired silhouettes while members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed live. By the end, the audience was blinking away tears.
“It was their first time playing a London Fashion Week show,” Quinn said proudly from backstage. He said he wanted classical sounds because “I was trying to react against what is going on right now with all the hard, techno music, and maybe bring it back to glamour and women feeling like women and wanting a desirable dress without feeling bad about it.”
Quinn said he wanted to push color, print and hyper-glamorous shape to the max for spring. “In these dystopian times, there is a search for the things that can light our way.”
It was a season of statements for Quinn, who also drew attention to a decline in funding and attention to arts education in the U.K. “Arts subjects are under threat in

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The design collective at MM6 Maison Margiela wanted to bring its collection alive for spring and show the clothes in action.
It swapped its usual presentation format for a runway show, and in line with its egalitarian approach, the brand invited guests to simply stand around the venue and watch, as the models paraded around the dimly lit Covent Garden warehouse, complete with broken chandeliers, cracked mirrors and graffiti across the walls.
It looked like prom gone wrong: Satin coats, ruffled blouses and sleek maxidresses in a palette of pretty, Belle Époque-inspired purples, pinks and pastel blues were given a more punchy, street attitude by splicing the shoulders, pairing them with fishnet tights, oversize crystal jewels and belts that ironically resembled prom sashes.
The team’s aim was to stay focused on the brand’s core ideas of re-appropriating garments and giving them a new lease of life. Drawing references from garments purchased at Parisian flea markets, they re-created satin bags from the 1900s into voluminous, pleated shift dresses; appliquéd crushed satin vintage slipdresses onto sporty sweatshirts and reworked T-shirts or slips into cross-body bags by turning them upside down.
Rejecting the need for newness and trend-driven collections, the brand also plans to keep revisiting these ideas

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Roberta Einer traveled to Morocco for her 26th birthday and looked to the Atlas Mountains for inspiration. “I always get really inspired by the trips I take. In one of my photos there was a beautiful woman looking out into the sun and that’s who I based my collection off of,” she said.
A sunset sky washed over the collection as pale pink and dusky blue looks opened the show. This gradated into yellow hues such as a pair of bright yellow lace pants.
There were a lot of textures: A ruched dress resembled Morocco’s uneven terrain, distressed linen that mimicked the look of denim and sequined-embellished tops oozed Moroccan glamour.
Apron skirts tailed off into points and shirtdresses gathered at the waist to create breezy silhouettes. A knitted shirt and pants combo with hooked yarn was a standout.

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L.A. GOING FUR-FREE: Los Angeles is now the largest city in the U.S. to have approved the ban of the sale of fur by 2020.
The effort was led by City Council members Paul Koretz, Bob Blumenfield, and Mitch O’Farrell. The decision was made in an unanimous vote Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council and is now pending the legalization by Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, according to a spokeswoman in Koretz’s office.
A spokesman in Feuer’s office did not respond immediately to a request for comment about the timeline.
Earlier this year, San Francisco also banned the sale of fur, and other California cities including West Hollywood and Berkeley have also done the same.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals touted the win and posted images of supporters holding signs reading “#Fur Free LA” and “Fur Is Dead” outside Los Angeles City Hall on its Instagram. Actress Alicia Silverstone chimed in, as did Mena Suvari.
PETA executive vice president Tracy Reiman said via e-mail, “PETA is popping the Champagne corks today after the Los Angeles City Council — led by Council Members Paul Koretz, Bob Blumenfield and Mitch O’Farrell — voted to ban the manufacturing and sale of fur, thereby sparing

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DOUBLE TAKE: Aspinal of London unveiled its spring collection alongside a 25-piece capsule in collaboration with Giles Deacon, consisting of the brand’s top handbag and accessories sellers.
The Regent Street flagship came alive with Deacon’s hand-drawn illustrations, depicting the women of Aspinal seen through his eyes, and these were blown up as giant cardboard cutouts and plastered across the shop floor.
The colorful print was adorned on the brand’s mini Trunk bag, the Regent tote bag and the Micro Lottie style, while the best-selling Hepburn bag featured a single girl embossed on the front.
These Aspinal ladies consisted of an international cast, “yet still very quintessentially English,” but with a more global appeal, highlighting the brand’s overseas expansion plans in the Middle East and China.
“Giles didn’t want to reinvent the wheel in terms of product, so there are no new bag styles and he chose the ones most synonymous to the brand,” a spokeswoman said.
These handbags lined the walls of the store and were perched on display tables while scarves embellished with the print hung off display bars or sat neatly folded in drawers.
Further down into the heart of the store, the new handbag collection influenced by ballerinas was on show. The Trunk,

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FROM THE ROOFTOPS: British Prime Minister Theresa May took a break from Brexit talks, and the political dramas enveloping Britain, to give a boost to the fashion crowd and urge them to market their assets to the world.
“Get the message out there of the British fashion industry, of the people behind the scenes, of the billions of pounds in revenue and how valuable fashion is to the economy,” said May, adding that Britain needed to be an “open, outward-facing country outside the E.U.”
During a reception at No. 10 Downing Street early Tuesday evening, May said the country’s talents had to be nurtured and supported like never before and that London remained a thriving, diverse city. “I am delighted to hear that Chanel, the grande dame of fashion, is moving its corporate headquarters here,” she said.
She also said her government was proud to support the exceptional talent visa program and innovation and tech growth, and reiterated that the U.K. government plans to invest 150 million pounds in Britain’s creative industries.
Guests included Erdem Moralioglu, Christopher Kane, Tammy Kane, Alice Temperley, Samantha Cameron, Rupert Sanderson and Molly Goddard, Frederick Lukoff, Pierre Denis, Thierry Andretta and Simon Burstein.
The British Fashion Council scored a few international

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DRESSING THE PART: Guess continues a streak of buzzy partnerships that have helped bring renewed interest to the brand, the latest being a deal with Colombian artist José Álvaro Osorio Balvin, or J Balvin to fans.
The Los Angeles denim firm said Tuesday it created a seven-piece capsule collection for the Latin Grammy Award winner’s tour, which kicks off Wednesday in Fresno, Calif. The collection is named Guess Vibras, in a reference to Balvin’s “Vibras” album.
The brightly hued offering includes colorblocking on a denim jacket and fanny pack and tie-dye hoodie and T-shirt among other items. The pieces, priced from $44 to $198, will be sold while Balvin is on tour in addition to Guess stores located near the venues for each of his concerts.
The collection is the latest in music merchandise that’s being more thoughtfully designed for beyond concert venues with Universal Music Group’s Bravado unit an early adopter of the concept for artists such as Justin Bieber and his “Purpose” tour merchandise or Kanye West’s multicity “The Life of Pablo” pop-ups.
Guess director of brand partnerships Nicolai Marciano called the offering in a press release “a special capsule transcending music into fashion.”
The Guess Vibras capsule is the latest in a raft

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