Yves Castaldi at LA Fashion Week: "I Came, I Saw, and I Shall Captivate!".

LOS ANGELES -- YVES CASTALDI, always an iconoclast, will be one of the first designers to open LA Fashion Week this year, showing his Spring 2008 collection at 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 14th at Lightbox at Smashbox Studios. Castaldi launches his Couture by Appointment Collection by colorfully cantering down the Los Angeles catwalk in Black and White, with actors Bai Ling, Wesley Jonathan and Nadia Bjorling as models. "David Hockney's art gave me the feeling that anything is possible in Los Angeles," says Mr.Castaldi, regarding the inspiration for his designs.

Castaldi, a French citizen who has been designing in Europe for over thirty years and has been here for five years, is known for his ability to alchemize disparate fabrics, such as denim and silk, into couture.

His internationally distributed collection is mysteriously sexy. The Senior Fashion Editor for Fashion Vampire Magazine has said, "We should expect him to totally turn this fashion week on its ear, if you will, because he is a man of exquisite theatrics. I am sure he will turn the catwalk into a synergy of magic and vigor, an event the celebrities, journalists, and mere mortals attending will remember for a long time." (Please see the article on Castaldi in www.fashionvampire.com, and view the photos of his designs in the photo gallery there as well.)

"I have to fly in to support Maestro Castaldi for this fashion show. I have never been to a Los Angeles Fashion Week, but I have to support Yves," says Baroness Victoria von Kap-herr.

Castaldi, who is celebrated for his endless passion and unrelenting zeal, has clothed actress Bai Ling, actress Shell Z, actress Tara Reed, Baroness Victoria von Kap-herr, and executive Kimberly Moore of The Echelon Club. (Castaldi is a favorite designer of members of this prestigious club.)

Castaldi says, "I never look back, only ahead, so now I spring into this new venture with all my creative energy."