Held at Seven Ultralounge on Sunday night, the Red Dress Collection show served as something of an unofficial kickoff to Minneapolis-St. Paul Fashion Week. Modeled after the celeb-studded show that inaugurates New York Fashion Week each season benefiting heart health for women, the show featured one original red dress designed by a local designer, as modeled by a local "celeb." Our celebs in question consisted mainly of Vikings wives, though Kaela Humphries (sister to Kris) and former Fox 9 news anchor Robyne Robinson were among the more recognizable faces on the runway. As for the designs, Emma Berg's finale gown - a blooming draped organza skirt attached to a revealing bodice - was the evening's showstopper (though perhaps a little too revealing of her model's prominent décolletage). Also of note: ArielSimone's floor-length, structured dress accented with a trail of folded fabric down the back; Max Lohrbach's swingy, ruffle-accented cocktail dress; and Laura Fulk's silky gown that brought a sophistication to the designer's trademark edge. For their parts, Christopher Straub, Sarah M. Holm and Tim Navarro also showcased some well-constructed and flattering looks.
While some designers took up the task of dressing the bodies of these "real women" shapes, some faltered. Rachel Blomgren's caped dress worn by Robyne Robinson ended up looking like a dowdy liturgical vestment, Danielle Everine opted to cover up the curves of plus-size model Kaela Humphries instead of accentuating them, Thom Navarro's dress got the proportions all wrong, and Maritza Ramirez' dress shapelessly hung on her model.
Despite the somewhat cheeseball conceit of putting dresses on "local celebrities," it was exciting to see local fashion take a place among a more mainstream element of Minneapolis culture. Here's hoping some of these local designers pick up those football wives and tastemakers as future clients.
Allison Kaplan in Sarah M. Holm
Dr. Jennifer Dankle in Thom Navarro
Ann Carroll in Laura Fulk
Landyn Hutchinson by Emma Berg and necklace by Stephanie Lake Design
Sandy Simmons in ArielSimone
Laura Schara in Christopher Straub
Alexus Koch by Tim Navarro
Laura Schara in Christopher Straub, Kaela Humphries in Danielle Everine & Ann Carroll in Laura Fulk
Cliché hosted its annual fashion show "Avoid the Grey" on Saturday night at the Grainbelt Bottling House, and this year the local boutique decided to change things up. The "show" was more of an art installation, with models dressed in one avant-garde look by local designers housed inside peephole-laden boxes designed by local artists. While I love me a good old-fashioned runway show, it was a great concept - fashion as art. With the recent slew of overly-lengthy runway shows that seem to be more about quantity than quality, it was refreshing to see so much thought having gone into a show. Less was more, in this case. A minor criticism: it was difficult to get a good gauge of what was happening in the boxes with only the small peepholes to peer through. But nonetheless, the interactive feel of the event served only to make fashion more accessible and less intimidating.
Here are the individual looks, out of the box. Let's assess:
Kerry Riley of Needle & Black translated her love for patent leather into a skintight Latex look complete with her signature holster, this time rendered in stripes, which offers a great graphic element to the otherwise fairly basic design. The gold cuffs were a nice addition.
Rachel Blomgren is one of my favorite up-and-comers in the local fashion scene. She has a great way of merging a punky, West Bank aesthetic with genuinely impressive knitting skills and a great eye for color and pattern. I want those leggings NOW. The headpiece (or rather, "hand" piece) and doll head necklace are deliciously wacky. (Necklace by Lela Baumann of Chrysopoeia.)
Kimberly Jurek's contribution to the evening was a silk skirt inspired by traditional bomba skirts, which are designed for a traditional Puerto Rican folkloric dance. She updated it with the pops of neon, though with the addition of the fringed jacket, it looks more like a costume than true fashion. (Accessories by KR Designs by Kristi Relopez.)
As for Kathryn "V" Sterner's look, this is just plain weird. Apparently the "hoof hand" gloves are inspired by a lyric from a Devandra Banhart song, and the dress is made out of wallpaper - no wonder it looks so stiff. The makeup and the head wreath are making me think of Jesus Christ, and that's not good. (Head wreath by Cocoquette by Andrea Oseland.)
What a fun look from Sarah M. Holm. Love the juxtaposition of the soft floral and bow motifs with the "gun bustier" and black cage skirt. And it's perfectly constructed. It's no surprise coming from a designer known for injecting high-concept ideas into her work while still making it fashion (i.e., not a costume). (Bullet jewelry by Timmilynn Johnson of Sweet T.)
This was an intriguing offering from Danielle Everine. It's clearly in line with her latest work shown at the "Sashay Shantay" fashion-geared Art Shanty over the past couple of weeks - sort of an Arctic seafaring snow queen, with equal parts fashion and function. The black and shades of blue work gorgeously together. My one complaint is that it's overstyled - she really didn't need the antler necklaces (which are by up-and-coming accessories line KR Designs. And I do really like the antler necklaces on their own; I featured them in last week's issue of Vita.mn).
Yikes. This look by Carmichael Claith just looks ridiculous. It's clear she was going for some outsized proportions, but those pants make the model look like The Adventures of Frog & Toad.
Double yikes for this look by ArielSimone. Yellow lace with cutouts and rhinestones can never be a good idea. It's pretty draggy. (Accessories by Jen Scheffler of Realia by Jen.)
Killah look from Amanda Christine. That jacket is perfectly cut, and this is far edgier than we typically see from the typically more subdued designer (who is among the city's more commercially successful designers). The sheer red hose are a great touch. (Accessories by Timmilynn Johnson of Sweet T.)
Up-and-coming designer Gina Marie Landes of Gina Marie Vintage sticks pretty true to her subdued palette, chiffon fabrics and easy-fitting silhouettes in her boho/Grecian goddess look. (Accessories by Larissa Loden of Lefthand Originals.)
And to get a taste of the actual event, here's some video:
All photos by Marty Andreason except Kimberly Jurek's look photo by Sara Glassman.
All three shows for Saturday's "Avoid the Grey" show are sold out. But if you were lucky enough to nab tickets to Cliché's annual runway show, here is a preview of what to expect:
"Avoid the Grey" designer Maritza Ramirez wasn't in the lookbook, but she was nice enough to share a sketch with me from her spring 2011 line - her first since last summer's "I Feel Love" show:
Also in today's Vita.mn, I spotlight Grethen House's 70% off sale and local designer Anne M. Cramer's adorable spring skirt. Read it here.
Delayna Sundberg, co-owner of Cliché, just gave me the exclusive preview of next Saturday's "Avoid the Grey" fashion show at Old Arizona. The long-running annual show highlights the boutique's prolific roster of local fashion designers as well as their own well-edited selection of national lines. The lookbook features Ignite model Caitlin, hair and makeup by Kate Erickson, and photography by Josh Stokes. Click here for show details.
On Tuesday evening, local designers, fashion writers, and the local fashion elite crowded into the swanky underground Honey Lounge in Northeast for a preview of the upcoming fall 2010 MNfashion Week. After an MNfashion video introduction from MNfashion director Anna Lee and designer Joy Teiken of Joynoelle, the crowd parted for a casual fashion show featuring a couple of looks from nearly every event happening during MNfashion Week.
Both Raul Osorio and Danielle Everine of the joint show "Pale Rider" (September 24 at MNfashion Atrium) showed two looks each. Osorio's black structured dress was a hit, and the styling by Molly Roark was spot on.
Danielle Everine's looks were ideal for autumn walks, and the fur stoles and riding boots were perfect additions. Her wool cream swing coat was the show-stopper of the evening.
We were surprised to find out the extremely sophisticated sage green print trapeze dress was by "Project Runway" alum Christopher Straub, who will be previewing more looks from his Spring 2011 collection at Envision: Artopia (September 17 at Graves 601 Hotel). The designer told us after the show he's been working on "cutting down on the frippery" on his designs, which seems to really be working for him.
Envision designer ArielSimone took a risk showing her edgy mini-skirt-meets-bodysuit one-shouldered look. But the construction was solid, and her point of view is clear. Designer Adrienne Yancy is making it clear she's one to watch.
A couple of looks from Cliche's "Crosswalk" show (September 23 at Cliche) included this layered look from hot up-and-comer Tender Cuts by Emily Bryngelson: a crisp, tailored jacket with a filmy, floral-print dress - perfectly on trend for fall.
A look from local line Of Venus and Gaia (September 23 at the Lab Theater) is said to be inspired by '80s dancewear - unfortunately, that was trendy about ten years ago and hasn't really come back. The mish-mashed outfits were trying to be eclectic and quirky but ended up coming off messy.
Another hiccup: the too-shiny, too bright and too-tight looks from the Sweet Life fashion show (September 26 at OM Restaurant). The look is defiantly clubwear and not exactly of-the-moment.
Overall, it was a great sampling of what's to come during MNfashion Week, running September 20-26. For more information on MNfashion Week, visit mnfashionweek.com.
Adrienne Yancy will be participating in one of the hallmarks of a fashion designer's career: showing at New York Fashion Week. Under her line ArielSimone, the local designer will be presenting her Spring 2011 swimwear line in a collective show that also includes Project Runway alumni Leanne Marshall (Season 5's winning designer) and Korto Momolu (a Season 5 runner-up). Though said to be inspired by the bold colors and sex appeal of Miami, the collection will get a local touch via sunglasses by Minnesota natives Coco and Breezy. The show is slated for September 12 at the Skylight West Studios in New York.
