Eric Kim, the hierarchy at Monarchy, is one Los Angeles designer who knows his target audience. For the Monarchy Fall 2008 Collection, appropriately titled "Streets of Scandinavia," Eric Kim showed the winter half of a fall-winter collection, while enthralling the packed crowd with cool music, atmosphere, and even snowflakes dropping from the skies on a 75 degree Los Angeles early evening.

The Monarchy Fall 2008 Collection is one of the few to include a men's line. No, not the last minute remembrance of men by throwing some trendy looking suspenders on tapered black pants just to appease the press. The Monarchy Fall 2008 Collection rocked the stage with as much for the men as for the women. The Monarchy Fall 2008 Collection was by far the strongest men's collection of LA Fall Fashion Week.

Monarchy describes themselves as “an eclectic premium men’s and women’s apparel which has established itself as the front runner in fashion for trendsetting and groundbreaking denim.” The Monarchy Fall 2008 Collection lives up to this mission statement and more by not offering overdone graffiti t-shirts and ill-fitting pants.

The over-sized Monarchy emblem did blaze the dark tailored denim, but wasn’t as prevalent on the whole line as most of Monarchy’s competitors facilitate. The Monarchy Fall 2008 Collection might just be forming a secret army with a collection full of military olive drab and khaki colors to zippered nylon flight jackets and army field jacket silhouettes, all keeping in line with the hip, cool theme of young Scandinavia.

The women's side of the Monarchy Fall 2008 Collection was all about warmth without forgetting the shape of the female figure. Chunky cable knits weren’t limited to just sweaters. Kim’s vision of knits blended into scarves, hats, sweaters and button-front ponchos.

Eric Kim captured the hip LA scene perfectly with the Monarchy Fall 2008 Collection not only with fashion but with keeping the show West Coast thru various accessories designers. Now if it would only snow in Los Angeles.

For more information, please visit www.monarchycollection.com

All photos provided by Mercedes Benz LA Fashion Week