Voltage accessory designers announced

Voltage accessory designers have been announced. They include Needle & Black, Jennifer Merchant, Bionic Unicorn, Freedom From Doubt, and Lela Horst Baumann, among others. I'm the show's lead stylist (for the fifth year running!) and had a hand in selecting and pairing these designers. Here's a sampling of their past work and proposed designs from some of my favorites:

Acrylic jewelry by Jennifer Merchant (for Frances Zerr)

Leather accessories by Needle & Black by Kerry Riley (for Raul Osorio)

Leather and burlap bow accessories by Freedom for Doubt (for Danielle Everine)

Lingerie by Jagress Intimates by Sarah White (for Danielle Everine)

Ceramic skull buttons and accessories by Lela Horst Baumann (for Rachel Blomgren)

Jewelry by Bionic Unicorn by Kristin Berwald (for Max Lohrbach)

Local fashion link roundup

Here's my weekly roundup of fashion links and news of all things local.

[Dearling Physique in Kevin Kramp designs]

City Pages posted and extended interview with one of their Artists of the Year, local knitwear designer Kevin Kramp.

You can see Kevin Kramp's knitwear designs (along with that of fellow local designer Hilary Falk) in Dearling Physique's music video "Discipline Your Hands," debuting this Friday, January 7 at the Uptown Apple Store.

In even more Kevin Kramp news, the designer just announced he'll be showing at Paris Fashion Week at the end of January in an emerging menswear designer showcase.

AOL interviews Anna Lee, founder of Voltage: Fashion Amplified and MNfashion.

Local personal style blog Dirty Hair Halo interviews national style blog icon Tevis Swain.

Dirty Hair Halo is also unloading her well-edited closet and filling up a e-shop with her finds.

Voltage 2011 designer Rachel Blomgren shares her sketches and inspiration (part one, part two, part three)

Local style blogger Hina Khan tries the ombre hair trend thanks to Mark Dolan of Evolution Salon.

Ellen Dahl Lawson shoots stylish show-goers at the Rock Your Frock fashion show a couple of weeks back for Vita.mn.

Sara Glassman covers local up-and-coming fashion and beauty lines HAROLD by Laura Nelli, Galen Labs, Daub and Bauble, and BlackBlue for Star Tribune.

City Pages offers highlights from the ongoing Mao to Now Chinese fashion exhibition at the Goldstein Museum of Design.

Local jewelry designers Heads Twogether do a how-to guide on how to make a jewelry charm necklace.

Meghan McAndrews of High Plains Thrifter does a Budget Beauty Gift Guide for Beauty Bets.

Stylist/blogger Ines Kovacevic has tons of great photo inspiration updates on her blog, Merci Beaucoup, as does stylist/blogger Jane Belfry's new blog Couture et Cuisine.

The Mall of America has a new blog; add it to your blogroll for updates on trends, sales and shopping ideas.

Kevin Kramp named one of City Pages' Artists of the Year

Along with local favorites like photographer Alec Soth and GAYNGS main man Ryan Olson, locally-based, avant-garde knitwear designer Kevin Kramp was named one of the Artists of the Year by City Pages. (And deservedly so.)


Choice quotes:

"Woven fabric is boring. I didn't design it, I didn't manufacture it, and I barely control it when making a garment. All the work is already done. Whereas with knit, I start from the beginning and control everything."

"My life is not separate from my design work; they are one and the same," Kramp says. "I'm inspired and enthusiastic to create objects of beauty and moments of joy, continually paralyzed by insecurity while simultaneously taking bold steps in daring directions."

Read the article here.

muses and lenses: Benjamin Fredrickson photography

Photographer Benjamin Fredrickson is one of the brightest talents to come out of Minneapolis. His work has been featured in subversive, gay-centric photography magazine BUTT and online magazine Oakazine, and he's currently based out of New York and working for e-shop Oak NYC. His photography typically features a lot of nude men and gay sexuality, but here's a smattering of his work that is safe for my blog. View more at www.benjaminfredrickson.com or Ben's Polaroid blog, if you dare.

[Self-portrait]

[Naures]

[Albert]

[Troy]

[Daniel]

[Self-portrait]

He has also occasionally turned his lens onto female muses. Here is a selection from his blog, Female Benjamin Fredrickson.

[Mary]

[Jane]

[Ines]

Ellen Dahl Lawson models for BlackBlue

I've loved St. Paul menswear shop BlackBlue since it opened its doors last year - and was secretly jealous there wasn't a similar store for women. Apparently, a lot of other girls feel the same way - and shop there anyway. Apparently, owner Steve Kang is about to roll out a selection of women's clothes. The Minneapoline street style blogger Ellen Dahl Lawson recently stepped in front of the lens to model the new women's looks (paired with some men's) from the shop. Here are the photos in full. (Click here for clothing credits.)

BlackBlue is located at 614 Selby Avenue at Dale Avenue in St. Paul.











All images courtesy BlackBlue

Jane Belfry launches new fashion, lifestyle & food blog

Prolific stylist and blogger Jane Belfry has a new blog Couture et Cuisine. The blog takes off after her previous fashion-oriented blog, The Fashion Critic (which went offline about a month ago) but adds a new element: food Expect beautiful vintage and modern fashion photography combined with decadent food menus from all over the world.

Photo: Stan Shaffer via Couture et Cuisine

Add this one to your blogrolls now. View Jane's styling work at www.janebelfry.com.

Fairshadow previews "Whimsical Red" shoot

Local photographer Carla Haglund of FairShadow Photography just posted this preview of a new steampunk/Lolita-infused photo shoot, and I must say it's quite spooky yet adorable. Perfect for tonight's not-since-the-1600s lunar eclipse coinciding with the winter solstice.

The model is wearing a dress by Megan Maude, a Decatur, Georgia-based steampunk designer who is tightly-knit with the local neo-Victorian contingency, Libertine Asylum.