Dear Pennies and Pens,

Renowned Italian designer Renato Balestra chose the arguably most glamorous and star-studded city in the U.S. to make his first-ever American debut of his couture collections. Thatâs right my pen fam, he came here to Los Angeles.
The fashion show was held Thursday, April 14, and included jaw-dropping gowns, intense detail and, above all, sparkle.
Held at the fittingly enchanting Millennium Biltmore hotel in the heart of L.A., Balestraâs event (titled âUna Notte di Speranzaâ) benefited City of Hope, a cancer research center that has presented some of the most widely used cancer drugs to the science world.
Balestra has dressed the most prominent women around the worldâroyals, actresses, doctors, the list goes on. And his show was curated to showcase his global fame, which began in Europeâthis is where Balestra’s debut show began as he took us around the world…
We started with fashionably fierce matadorsâdonning detailed and trimmed cropped jackets and chiffon mini dresses.
Then…. there was the sparkle!

Balestra took us to the south of France…
And, we were invited to a Victorian masquerade ball…

We stopped by a royal wedding…
Finally, we made our way back home to America…

Note: All photographs in this column were taken by L.A. Confidential
Coming up next on L.A. Confidentialâwe take you backstage at the Renato Balestra show. Stay tuned to see which of Hollywood and Europe’s elite were there.
And there it is. The Fashion & Style of the PenâŠChosen by PenâŠReported by L.A. Confidential.
This seems like a fun show.
Yea, I know right! I wish I could’ve been there. Thank goodness for L.A. Confidential holding it down. Lol
I like that wedding dress on the photo. it looks so beautiful!
Hi Ethan, It’s L.A. Confidential hereâI completely agree with you. The wedding dress was my favorite look of the night. Yours truly, LA