By Marc Malkin
Angelina Jolie not only helps orphans, but she's also making an impact on Los Angeles' Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, too.
Designer Alvin Valley says that the collection he's debuting next Tuesday at Smashbox Studios is inspired by two high-flying women: celebrity pilot Jolie and pioneering female aviatrix Harriet Quimby, who was America's first licensed female pilot.
"Harriet designed her own costumes for piloting," Valley says. "She was really an original and also a pioneer and a strong sort of woman."
He sees the same in Jolie. "She's not just some girl who gets into a limo, and it's all about that and a bodyguard," Valley says. "I think that girls who fly their own planes are pretty cool."
Valley, dubbed by the fashion press as the King of Pants for his trademark trousers, has worked with Sharon Stone and Kate Winslet, among others.
Stone, he says, is a perfectionist. In a good way, that is. "She comes in, and she'll have a fitting for a trouser for like a half an hour to an hour for just one pair of pants," Valley says. "She just wants perfection."
There's absolutely no celebrity attitude when it comes to Winslet. "She buys like crazy, and she never wants anything comped," Valley coos. "She comes in, and shell buy, like, 20 to 30 pieces at a time."
While Jolie may inspire, Valley does have some advice for the mother of four. "I'd just love to style her completely, because I feel like her style is kind of all over," he says. "I think she should stick more with sexy suits and pants. I think she's sexier wearing that than a dress."
The Fashion Week show isn't the only time to get a peek at his newest creations. Blast boutique in Beverly Hills is holding a Valley trunk show on Wednesday with part of the proceeds going to the Jeannie Tabach-Bank Memorial Fund for Pancreatic Cancer Research. The fund was started and named in honor of the late mom of Valley's publicist, Lauren Tabach-Bank.