Fashion Week: St. Louisans more attracted to trends than innovation
St. Louis Fashion Week kicked off on October 7 at the Contemporary Art Museum with Project: Design! Tuesday night’s runway showcased local St. Louis designers and set the tone for a week of fashionable partying. The Contemporary was a great choice of venue for the opening event. The center gallery was transformed into the stomping ground for the latest and greatest of St. Louis design and a party place for fashion’s adoring fans. DJ’s peering down from the top balcony blasted bass-heavy electronica that, along with the 20-somethings sipping Grey Goose and Red Bull, made the space feel more like we were already at the after-party than at a fashion show.
Tuesday’s show had an environmental spin to it, as it was sponsored in part by Ameren UE’s Pure Power program, which supplied all of the (wind) power for the event. The runway also had a taste of environmentally and financially sustainable living with the Goodwill Industries’ green fashion show, which creatively combined pieces found at Goodwill stores to create some looks that were high-fashion and some that were wearable, and all on the cheap.
After the Goodwill show, Paul Gibson was next in the line-up with his modern collection, REIGN. The looks Gibson presented were not all that creative and often showed a lack of workmanship, revealed by uneven hems and tops that did not quite fit his models. Carmella Simpson’s Mella Y succeeded at presenting the unexpected with a collection that was at once 1940s and 2040s, combining retro coloring with wing-like collars,
Jetson-y silhouettes and a touch of metallic. The real metallic onslaught, though, came from Trashbiscuit. This self-proclaimed designer of “trashy” throws reverence to the wind with his collection of neon, metallic, spandex, tulle and, you guessed it, golden pistols adhered to breasts. Shan Keith delivered pretty designs and pretty fabric on pretty models - definitely something that would be a hit at Macy’s. If you were then to venture into the teen department of Macy’s, you might see looks akin to those of Yani Co. Judging by the reactions of the young women standing behind me (“lime green is so hot!”), Yani Co’s designs were judged to be wearable and Saturday night-worthy. The last collection, Re.Constructeestruction, lived up to its name. The designs featured severe angles and edgy fabrics, and paid homage to the collection’s late designer, Shawn Williams.
The overall production and promotion of Fashion Week is proving to be hip and adept at bringing the “big city” party to St. Louis. I have to say, though, that the fashion offerings in St. Louis have a ways to go to catch up to the progress seen in other media. So Fashion Week might not necessarily be the place to see the best in art-fashion, and the aesthetic of most of the people I heard reacting to the show itself revealed more of a penchant for the “hot” than the “innovative,” “cutting-edge” or “ambitious,” but it is certainly putting on a good party.
Fashion Week continues through October 11, with an event every night. For more information, check out www.saintlouisfashionweek.com.
