L.A. artist Brett Westfall makes his Paris runway debut

ALOS ANGELES artist quietly made his Paris debut last week at the Comme des Garçons men’s show. Brett Westfall -- who helped orchestrate (and co-owns) the label’s guerrilla store in downtown L.A. -- was leaning against a concrete pillar in the dark as the jackets and pants he’d hand-splattered with paint in Tokyo last month went down the runway before the international fashion press.

“It’s like a dream come true, dude,” Westfall said. “She’s my favorite artist.” He was talking about Rei Kawakubo, the Comme des Garçons designer. Westfall, whose works have included tables of fresh fruit, piles of stuffed pantyhose and a T-shirt buried in the ground for 180 days, had collaborated with Kawakubo on a 2005 Comme des Garçons T-shirt design.

This time, eight of Westfall’s pieces appeared in the show, including black jackets covered with splotchy, free-form polka dots, hazy horizontal stripes or mottled bands of color. Westfall said he will return to Tokyo to paint the production pieces starting in October, a process that will take from two weeks to two months, depending on orders. They will be available at all Comme des Garçons stores in the spring.

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Adam Tschorn