In review: Cliche's Avoid the Grey

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.

Cliche announces Local Jewelry Bazaar this Sunday

Local boutique Cliché just announced its first-ever Local Jewelry Bazaar. Taking place this Sunday in conjunction with the Minneapolis Open Streets Event, the store will be hosting a broadened selection of handmade jewelry from over 20 designers based in the Twin Cities, Chicago, Iowa, Los Angeles, and Brussels. Meet the designers and see new work for Summer 2011 displayed inside and outside of the store, and snag 20 percent off everything during the opening. Click here for details. Here's a preview:

NUNU Collection, Chicago


Play by Marly, Minneapolis

Cocoquette by Andrea Oseland, Minneapolis

KR Designs, Minneapolis

Style diary: Sol Inspirations eco-fashion show

Last Saturday, I attended the Sol Inspirations eco-fashion show. (Read my review for Vita.mn here.) Since my old friend and longtime collaborator Ra'mon-Lawrence Coleman was one of the competing designers, I found it only fitting to wear one of his designs - a one-of-a-kind runway piece from his spring 2008 collection (borrowed from the closet of Emma Berg). I paired it with a bright yellow feather neckpiece by new accessory designer KR Designs (currently available at Cliche for about $64), a beaded silk baguette given to me by friend Teri, and blue silk ankle-wrap pumps by DKNY from Opitz Outlet.

Here I am with designer Raul Osorio and l'etoile creative director and founder Beth Hammarlund.

[Photo via Art of Wore]

Here I am with former Minneapolitan Hina Khan (who does a fun style blog), in town from L.A. for the weekend in a spring 2011 Needle & Black dress by Kerry Riley; Raul; Beth; and designer Emma Berg in Raul Osorio spring 2011.

KR Dezigns' feather chokers at Envision

It turns out that the brightly colored feather chokers that stole the show at last Saturday's Envision: Artopia fashion show were created by local designer KR Dezigns. I am debating which one to buy to wear during MNfashion Week. Here they are in Cliche's '70s-inspired, Marc Jacobs S/S 2011 runway-inspired showing at Envision (on Ignite models):

[Photos courtesy Cliche]

The feather chokers are available for purchase at Cliche.

KR Designs debuts on "Avoid the Grey" runway

Of all the jewelry displayed at last Saturday's "Avoid the Grey" fashion show put on by local boutique Cliche, it was this neon Lucite necklace (shown with a Niki Couture dress) that most caught my eye:

[Photo by Jahna Peloquin]

Turns out it's by brand-new local line KR Designs, which just made its runway debut at "Avoid the Grey." Check the line out on Facebook.