The Crowd: Helping people dress for success

In case you have not noticed, the media, especially television and social media outlets, are obsessed with style infotainment. Reporting on fashion trends, hairstyles, makeup and must-have accessories, including $1,000 sunglasses and multi-thousand-dollar handbags, trumps the news offered on lunar landings, Middle East war and especially U.S. congressional policies. Well, I guess that’s not hard to imagine.

As 2014 ended, the group Smart Women, which supports Working Wardrobes in creating an empowered workforce, invited Hollywood fashion and costume designer Luke Reichle for a little dining and conversation with the local O.C. female movers and shakers at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach. They called the confab Red Carpet & Cocktails.

Reichle charmed the women with his secrets of the Hollywood red carpet, which has, in recent years, captivated the attention of worldwide fashionistas as well as hordes of delusional fans who can’t get enough of the hype.

It must be noted that far more important than the cocktails and the fashion gossip is the purpose of the group. Working Wardrobes is a major community asset assisting women and men, including young adults just entering the workforce and especially veterans re-entering the workforce. The organization provides skills to create a path to successful and lasting employment. Advice on and procurement of an essential dignified workplace wardrobe is just one of the elements of the mission.

Before Reichle’s address, guests had an opportunity to raise funds for the organization by shopping at a pop-up boutique set up in a Pacific Club ballroom. It was a version of Working Wardrobes’ own Hangar Boutiques, which serve the public on an ongoing basis. The setup is a mini-retail store that carries designer clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories at affordable prices. Profits are funneled back into programs helping folks find work.

While the ladies and a few gents were shopping, I had a moment to sit down with Reichle. His three-decade career in the world of fashion includes his current long-running stint on the hit ABC television series “Castle.” Reichle has also created wardrobes for “Without a Trace” and “CSI Miami,” among many other programs, and designed for or dressed celebrities who trust his style advice.

“In days past, celebrities would come to a designer to create a gown for the red carpet at awards shows. As coverage of the red carpet has exploded, the red carpet has become as important as the show itself,” Reichle said with a grin. “Coverage of the preshow carpet arrivals is up to three hours. It is now a major publicity opportunity for product placement.”

The designer, who has always taken a back seat to the glamour of his clients, shared that major design houses such as Armani, Versace and Dior have led the charge. Working with the big labels, the rise of the so-called fashion-wardrobe stylist has taken off, creating a new class of fashion workers who have gained a degree of clout in the industry.

“Every star must have their stylist,” he said. “There are still some who prefer a less visible profile and rely on their own taste and instincts and come to designers such as myself rather than rely on a stylist that may be representing a particular fashion house.”

Reichle confided that two very beautiful young stars who tend to favor one particular designer are Jennifer Lawrence and Charlize Theron, who both wear Dior with considerable grace and elegance.

Reichle, who has orchestrated literally thousands of fittings over years of “navigating around trying to blend ideas and personalities with the appropriate fashion,” hails from a decidedly unglamorous youth. He was raised in Holtville, an agricultural town of some 3,800 residents in the Imperial Valley. His father ran an auto repair shop in which all of his brothers worked.

Reichle preferred helping his mother in her sewing room, doing piece work to bring in money for the family. She would make gowns for young girls going to prom, and he thinks that’s where his design ambitions were born. “I think Halston came from either Bakersfield or Fresno,” he said. “Holtville is right up that alley.”

Reichle paid his dues working for a number of international brands including Perry Ellis and Calvin Klein as well as Levi Strauss and Harley Davidson. “Ten years of work cured me of ever wanting to do another line,” he confessed.

His career then took him to Europe, and he found himself living in France, “broke, high and dry and without a plane ticket back home.” Reichle would make it back to the U.S. and find his way into what would become a now-21-year career dressing the stars.

Reichle’s message to the O.C. crowd was not exactly what might have been expected. It was not about over-the-top glamour or even about keeping up with the latest trend. Rather, the design guru, who has an eBook titled “It’s Not About the Clothes,” shared that true glamour comes “from the inside out.”

He stressed the importance of being real and true to yourself, your taste and your expression via fashion. The latest and most expensive fashions are not necessarily the ticket. Creating smart personal style is not about copying anyone. It’s about being your original self.

The message was perfect for the folks in support of Working Wardrobes. To learn more, visit https://www.workingwardrobes.org or call (714) 210-2460.

THE CROWD runs Fridays. B.W. Cook is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.