Saturday, October 17, 2009

Saint Louis Fashion Week 2009

Our trip to Saint Louis was filled with a lot of excitement and curiosity. We were caring a little bit of weight on our shoulders. After all, we were there because of you. You voted religiously to put us in one of the top spots and we wanted to make you proud. After a short flight from Chicago, we arrived at the Lumière Hotel and Casino. While I tried to check in, Sean was mesmerized by a huge five-story-tall waterfall in the atrium. My husband is quite "aquatic;" any sight of water puts him in a trance.

The lobby was buzzing. You could feel the excitement of people getting ready for the VIP party and for the very first show: "Project: Design!" All of a sudden I noticed Attilio D'Agostino, the founder of the St. Louis Fashion Week. I ran quickly to introduce myself. He gave me a big hug and welcomed me to the event. How great was that!? I instantly felt welcomed. Attilio is also a co-founder of Alive Magazine "St. Louis' Hottest Magazine, featuring the latest in fashion, shopping, food and entertainment!" I spent most of my time that evening putting final touches on the clothes. I wanted everything to be ready for the show.

Next day I got a phone call from Marylyn who informed me she would be my assistant for the entire day. She was great. She put up with all my requests. She made sure I didn't miss any important meetings, rehearsals or interviews. We went backstage were I saw 3 rows of Bakers shoes waiting for me. They looked great on their website, but they looked even better in person. Two of my models were already waiting for me and we started fittings promptly with help of Yoko and Jessica, my dressers

Everything was going smoothly. However every time I tried to leave and have a quick snack with Sean my phone rang. Marylyn was looking for me. I finally sneaked out for a veggie burger and of course I missed a quick meeting. That's ok. I was there to meet with the judges and to meet Jillian Lewis, a Project Runway finalist and a judge. Jillian was also debuting her Spring collection at the show.

The designers I really wanted to talk to was AJ Thouvenot and Ryan Coyne of Trashbiscuit. Theirs designs were so much fun. Think turquoise blue and yellow vinyl faux flight attendant suit and bright pink feather dresses. I hoping to bring them to Chicago for a fashion show.

All the preparation and anticipation finally ended at 7pm. All my models were lined up and ready to go. We had to wait a little bit longer for Clinton Kelly and Stacy London from "What Not to Wear" to do their "thing." It's hard to say if people knew they would open the show. It was a big secret. However, the crowd was filled with their fans. Two women sitting next to Sean couldn't contain their excitement.

We were next. Evil Kitty opened the show. The girls looked beautiful. The only stress was brought by quick changes. We had 8 models and 12 looks. Quick model parade ended the show and I was free to watch the other collections.

My collection was consisted of 12 looks. They were mostly dresses, but of different lengths, shapes and textures. I picked a similar color scheme to bring the collection together. All the outfits were light blue, black and turquoise blue.
Here are some pictures (courtesy of Schwigen Photography)













Links:
Saint Louis Fashion Week
Alive Magazine
Rock Uniform
Corridor40
Trashbiscuit
Jelek
Schwigen Photography

No comments: