Wear What When

Bellevue Fashion Week

The three events you need to know about, and how to fill in the rest of the picture.

Posted by: Seattle Met Staff on Sep 19, 2011 at 07:30AM 1 Comments

Bellevue Fashion Week at the Bellevue Collection starts on September 28 and runs through October 2.

Like fashion weeks in New York, London, Paris, Milan, Sydney, and wherever else (okay, maybe not exactly like, since those events are built around debuting collections for the next big season), Bellevue Fashion Week is a tangle of shopping events, trunk shows, styling opportunities, runway events, and more.

Here, we’re breaking out the three things you most need to know about, and leaving you to access the Bellevue Fashion Week listings to figure out what else suits your interests and availability. (Don’t miss the complementary in-store events—scroll all the way thru the previous link—if you want in on the action, but are hoping to put all your dough toward your own wardrobe. Hey, it’s understandable.)

1. Wednesday September 28; Girl Power Hour’s Fourth Anniversary
Each year during BFW, the networkers and good time gals of Girl Power Hour throw a birthday bash. And they invite the dudes. This year’s festivities include a live fashion presentation, a try-it-on beauty bar, swag bags, and lots of meeting and greeting. Ladies and gentlemen, you may get your tickets via the GPH website.

2. Thursday September 29; Nordstrom’s Fall Fashion Show
Missed Designer Preview? Don’t miss this. The BFW Nordstrom show puts fall fashion on the runway, and then in post-show boutiques for easy and immediate access. This show benefits the Detlef Schrempf Foundation; grab tickets via their site.

3. Saturday Oct. 1; the main event: Front Row Fashion presented by Vogue
The magazine you love to love brings fall trends from the shops to the runway. Get inspired and see how to style all the looks you’ve got your eyes on. Proceeds benefit the Moyer Foundation; there are two ticket price levels; “all access” or VIP comes with special offers at stores like Aritzia and Zebra Club. Go to Brown Paper tickets to purchase them.

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Tags: Bellevue, Seattle Fashion Show, Fall Fashion 2011

Slideshow: Nordic Fashion Biennale at Nordic Heritage Museum

See symposium and exhibit designers and get links to their work.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Aug 22, 2011 at 06:30AM 0 Comments

Photo: All images courtesy Nordic Heritage Museum and Nordic Fashion Biennale

SLIDESHOW: Nordic artists participating in the NFB at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard. Here, a still from the fashion-influenced film Magma by Marianna Mørkøre and Rannvá Káradóttir.

View Slideshow » Photo: All images courtesy Nordic Heritage Museum and Nordic Fashion Biennale

SLIDESHOW: Nordic artists participating in the NFB at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard. Here, a still from the fashion-influenced film Magma by Marianna Mørkøre and Rannvá Káradóttir.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Looks from Hildur Yeoman, an Icelandic designer and fashion illustrator. Her work is featured in the NFB’s main exhibit, “Looking Back to Find Our Future.”

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Cult designer Henrik Vibskov is one of the region’s most well-known contemporary designer. He’ll be speaking during the symposium on September 30 and October 1.

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Danish designer Barbara i Gongini has been heavily involved in the sustainability movement, and, despite the ultra dark, ultra goth aesthetic, collaborated in 2009’s Bright Green Fashion collection.

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A look from Icelandic designer Eyglo.

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Gudrun & Gudrun is a knitwear line made by two natives of the remote Faroe Islands, which sit between Norway and Iceland.

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Greenland’s Julie Edel Hardenberg will also speak at the 9/30 and 10/1 symposium. Much of her work seems to riff on a key piece called ‘Rigsfælleskabspause’ (“the break of the Danish Commonwealth”), in which she used flags from Greenland and Danish to construct a kind of straight jacket.

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“Recycle or die;” Aftur’s brand slogan is pretty direct about the repurposed materials used in their Iceland-based line.

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The inspiration for Jóhanna Methúsalemsdóttir’s jewelry line, Kria, is said to come from a black lava Icelandic beach on which she found a bird skeleton. That’s the kind of romantic darkness that typifies at least our expectation of Nordic artists, if not always their actual work.

If you read about the upcoming Nordic Fashion Biennale at Ballard’s Nordic Heritage Museum and are curious about the fashion-industry thinkers and makers who are bringing their thoughts on style, sustainability, culture, heritage, and the future of all of these things to Seattle at the end of September, this is the slideshow for you.

Check out images and links to designers who are either featured in the main exhibit (begins September 30 and runs through November 13) or are participating in the opening-weekend symposium.

One caveat: We didn’t get example images of the street style photos that are going to infiltrate the Nordic Heritage Museum as a way of sort of populating the show with natives, but I’m hoping pictures from Hel Looks and Face Hunter will be in attendance—those were my introductions to the genre years ago.

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Tags: Seattle Fashion Show, Art Exhibits, Fashion as Art, Nordic Heritage Museum

Fashion First

Get your tickets for Seattle’s fall fashion boutique event.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Aug 18, 2011 at 09:30AM 0 Comments

Photo: Fashion First

Tickets are on sale now for Fashion First on September 15 at Showbox Sodo.

It’s that time of year again.

Each fall, for eight years now, Fashion First gathers local shoppers and puts them in front of a runway decked out with newly arrived fall fashion from local boutiques and/or designers. At the same time, via ticket prices and an auction, the show raises money for worthwhile local charities. On the runway for 2011: La Ree, Baby and Co., Ragamoffyn’s, and more.

This year’s celebration is Thursday, September 15; doors open at the Showbox in SoDo at 7. Tickets start at $50 and can be purchased via the Fashion First website.

Here, three questions for Fashion First’s Joan Kelly.

WWW: What was your original goal in starting the show and how has it morphed into more or become exactly what you wanted it to be?

JK: The original goal was to create a marketing platform for independent retailers and designers. Since then it’s grown and we are able to offer the participants a ton of marketing with all the changes in the industry. Issaquah-based designer Lizzie Parker handles all the back-end. She is all over the boutique owner’s visions, making each set truly display the individual branding. She has a very sophisticated taste level and she is always pushing it to the next level. She brings a show that won’t disappoint. It is going to be the best we have ever seen in this area.

Helping make up the Fashion First crowd that Joan Kelly says is the best in Seattle and the Eastside, Sway and Cake owner Tamara Donaghy.

As the ultimate insider at FF, what’s your favorite part: Seeing things come together backstage? Watching the front row revelers? The after party?

Watching the crowd deliver. They can BRING IT. Not only their donations to Rise n’ Shine but also their outfits. The best crowd in Seattle—or the Eastside. It’s a party. As my Grandmother always said, “Eat before you drink.” Good words to live by.

Most importantly, what are you wearing?

There are so many great shops involved in Fashion First, I would have to change my outfit several times that night to showcase the best of them. So I’m still deciding. For now, just the YSL Tributes in olive brown (they rock, BTW ) and perhaps the robe I wear to water aerobics.

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Tags: Seattle Fashion Show, New for Fall, Baby and Co., Fall Fashion 2011

Nordic Fashion Biennale at the Nordic Heritage Museum

The Ballard museum’s set to host a Nordic fashion celebration with an independent design focus.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jun 16, 2011 at 08:00AM 1 Comments

Photo: Shoplifter.us

Slideshow: A northern perspective on style. Here, work by Biennale curator and Iceland native Hrafnhildur Arnardottir, who you may just call Shoplifter.

View Slideshow » Photo: Shoplifter.us

Slideshow: A northern perspective on style. Here, work by Biennale curator and Iceland native Hrafnhildur Arnardottir, who you may just call Shoplifter.

View Slideshow » Photo: Henrik Vibskov Boutique

Looking Back to Find Our Future, an exhibit of fashion and jewelry from Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway, is part of the Biennale celebration. In it, the work of cutting edge designers like Henrik Vibskov (familiar to fans of Blackbird in Ballard) will be presented within the context of traditional garb and folk art.

View Slideshow » Photo: Barbaraigongini.dk

Barbara i Gongini, a Faroese line based in Denmark, will also be part of the Looking Back exhibit.

View Slideshow » Photo: Kerstin Alm, courtesy of Nordic Heritage Museum

A menswear look from the line Moods of Norway at the 2010 Arctic Summer Nordic Fashion Show at the Nordic Heritage Museum

View Slideshow » Photo: Kerstin Alm, courtesy of Nordic Heritage Museum

A look by Marimekko from last year’s runway show in Ballard.

View Slideshow » Photo: Kerstin Alm, courtesy of Nordic Heritage Museum

From last year’s show: Kristiina Hiukka, honorary vice consul of Finland, Seattle Sounders soccer player Freddie Ljungberg (a bona fide Swede), Ole Henriksen, the Danish skin care guru. Henriksen is also set to judge the North by Northwest competition.

If I told you that one of our local museums was hosting a fashion happening that had the potential to really boost local talent and will definitely add knowledge, insight, and experience to the community, you would probably guess that it was that big, one-name joint downtown doing the to-do. Actually, it’s the Nordic Heritage Museum.

In conjunction with the Nordic House in Reykjavik, Iceland, the Ballard institute is hosting the first American iteration of the Nordic Fashion Biennale. It’s because of a successful program last year, Nordic Heritage’s 2010 Arctic Summer Fashion Show, that Ballard, and Seattle, got that honor. Reps from the Icelandic organization were here to see the 2010 show (check the slideshow here for a few images courtesy Nordic Heritage); they were impressed, and decided we should start the stateside party.

The celebration of style and global design runs from September 30 through November 13 and will consist of three elements: a street fashion photo exhibit from the Nordic capitals, contemporary fashion from the five Nordic Countries shown with traditional customs from the Museum’s archives, and a sort of all-encompassing, genre-skipping exhibit of Nordic design to be installed in various formats throughout the Museum.

And, then there’s the design competition.

Open to fashion design students who live and create in the West Coast states (WA, OR, CA, AK: that’s you! BC and the Yukon: you’re in also!), the Biennale’s fashion competition, NxNW, counts the creative director of Diane Von Furstenberg, Denmark’s leading skin care expert, and Icelandic designer Steinunn among its judges.

A two-day symposium focusing on sustainability, slow fashion, cultural heritage, and current trends in the marketplace presents another opportunity for the Northwest’s up-and-coming designers to get face time with global leaders. This aspect of the biennale is curated by New York-based Icelandic artist Hrafnhildur Arnardottir, also known as Shoplifter—also known as, let’s be honest, A Pretty Big Deal. Having collaborated with VPL, dressed Bjork, and been given page of praise in the New York Times, Shoplifter in Seattle is something to pay attention to.

The biennale, in general, is definitely something to pay attention to. You’ll be hearing more about it from us in the weeks to come; in the meantime, tell every up-and-coming dress designer and thing-maker you know to check out the guidelines and information on the Nordic Heritage Museum’s website.

Deadline for entries is July 25; winners will receive round-trip airfare from Seattle to Reykjavik, three night’s accommodations, and entry to events during the 2012 Reykjavik Fashion Week.

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Tags: Seattle Fashion Show, Seattle Designer, Blackbird, Nordic Heritage Museum

Trunk Show: Kimberly Baker, Victoria Simons, Oysters, Chops

Frank’s Oyster House in Ravenna becomes a runway of sorts on the afternoon of May 21.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on May 10, 2011 at 07:00AM 0 Comments

SLIDESHOW: Victoria Simons’ dresses and Kimberly Baker’s jewelry, both designed and handmade in Seattle.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

SLIDESHOW: Victoria Simons’ dresses and Kimberly Baker’s jewelry, both designed and handmade in Seattle.

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Another look from Simons’ spring look book. Her pieces are currently being sold at Kimberly Baker’s Fremont shop.

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Baker’s pieces are always more than pretty, and more than tough. They manage to be feminine as well as strong. (Then again, don’t most of your favorite women manage the same?)

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Where: Frank’s Oyster House and Champagne Parlor

What: A trunk show that pairs spring pieces from Kimberly Baker’s history-hued bangles and narrative-driven necklaces with Seattle designer Victoria Simons’ ladylike-with-an-edge dresses (check the slideshow here to preview the look) but takes them out of the shop and puts them near what our reviewer calls “retro food executed with such respect (and served with such terrific bubbly and cocktails) there’s no way you can dismiss it.”

Because who says you have to have your trunk show in a boutique?

Frank’s co-owner Sarah Penn had this to say about the genesis of the idea, “Victoria will pop in and have her favorite Dover-Calais cocktail and one evening she mentioned that the circular floor plan at Frank’s would make a perfect runway and I just pictured a lovely spring afternoon event.”

So expect a runway of sorts too; styles from both designers will be on display, on models that is. Unless you decide to put your new purchases, at discounts of 20 percent, on and wear them around, too. In an email to friends and contacts last week, Baker also noted that a new raincoat line would be previewed. I didn’t have an opportunity to follow up on that, but girls in this town ought to be immediately interested.

When: Saturday, May 21 from 11:30 to 2:30. Reservations can be made by calling the restaurant (206-526-7655) and pre-purchasing a $15 ticket. Otherwise, you may purchase a ticket at the door, provided the event isn’t sold out. The entry fee includes a glass of bubbly; “small plates will be offered dim sum style for $3, $5, $7 and $9,” says Penn. “Guests will choose what they like as dishes are passed, and then tally up at the end. Bites include oysters on the half shell, mini Dungeness crab club rolls, nettle and ricotta blinis, smoked salmon lettuces cups, lamb or lentil empanadas, shiitake & Oregon shrimp potstickers, mini chocolate chili ice cream sandwiches and red velvet cupcakes. Frank’s full bar, as well as a special $6 drink list, will be available.”

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Tags: Accessories, Seattle Fashion Show, Seattle Trunk Show, Kimberly Baker, All-Weather Fashion

Tim Gunn in Bellevue

So you think you’re a model? Here’s how to make it work on May 7 at a Gunn-hosted Bellevue Square fashion show.

Posted by: Katie Ormsby on Apr 25, 2011 at 07:00AM 0 Comments

Tim Gunn hosts a fashion show at Lucky Brand Jeans in Bellevue. Not pictured: You, among the runway models.

Somehow, between mentoring on Project Runway, serving as Liz Claibornes’ chief creative officer, preparing to host a new makeover show, calling out Anna Wintour’s behavior, and fighting fashion crimes as a comic book superhero, Tim Gunn made room in his schedule to come to Bellevue, hosting a runway show for Lucky Brand Jeans in Bellevue Square’s Center Court.

You can catch it on May 7 at 1pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Or, you can walk it. Both professional models and regular folks will walk the runway. There’s an open casting call from 4 to 7 on May 4 and 5 at the Bellevue Square Lucky store. Just bring your beautiful self—sales associates will have all of the paperwork on hand.

Even if you’re not into public fashion parades, there’s an opportunity to get face time with the style guru.

Shoppers who spend at least $100 at the mall’s Lucky shop get their picture taken with Mr. Gunn and receive a signed copy of his new memoir-meets-etiquette book, Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making it Work. You must shop between May 1 and 7; and bring your receipt to the show.

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Tags: Bellevue, Seattle Fashion Show, Bellevue Square

Win Tickets for FACE

Land two free tickets to Seattle’s best runway show on Tuesday, April 26.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Apr 22, 2011 at 06:15AM 5 Comments

Photo: Adam Sinding; Le 21eme Arrondissement

A runway image from last year’s FACE show.

The super-anticipated FACE fashion show, in which top trends from Barneys New York are paraded around Pnk Ultra Lounge while you bid on amazing local goods and services for the benefit of beautiful young minds in India, is just five days away.

Have you scored tickets yet?

No? Here’s your chance.

Use the orange email the editor link to the right of this post (underneath the image of me seemingly examining my navel) and send in your name, email, and phone number for a chance to win two free tickets for the Tuesday, April 26 event.

Your email must have the words “I heart FACE” in the subject line, and you may only submit one entry. Those who enter more than once will be disqualified and publicly disgraced.

Entries must be received by Tuesday April 26 at 3; a winner will be selected at 4, and notified via phone and email. The winner and his/her guest will claim their tickets at check-in a few hours later.

Don’t want to chance it? Ensure a seat with a visit to the Brown Paper Tickets site.

For more on FACE, please visit their website and Facebook page.

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Tags: Seattle Street Style, Seattle Fashion Show, FACE, Barneys

Silhouettes of Style: A Royal Affair

An April 29 Bellevue Collection fashion show supports the arts while celebrating Kate Middleton’s style.

Posted by: Katie Ormsby on Apr 18, 2011 at 08:15AM 0 Comments

Photo: usmagazine.com

Act Two’s upcoming fashion show celebrates Kate Middleton’s style. And while we may not know what her official title will be just yet, Middleton is certainly a blossoming trendsetter. The sapphire blue Issa dress she wore for the engagement press conference sold out in one day.

Even if you just judged magazine covers (People, Us Weekly, even Newsweek), you’d have to say there’s a pretty widespread case of royal wedding fever in the air. So assuming you don’t live under a rock, you know there’s a pretty big event set for April 29.

But the folks at Bellevue’s Act Two Guild are anticipating a week from this Friday for slightly different reasons. The organization’s third annual fashion show and luncheon just happens to fall on Kate and Will’s big day. The Brit’s event was scheduled after the Bellevue one, so they went with it. Subtitling the “Silhouettes of Style” with A Royal Affair, event chair Michele Phillips-Baransky says the theme ‘offers us an elegant backdrop to bring women together to enjoy fashion, raise money for [the arts], and celebrate.’

The show is at the Bellevue Westin and will highlight spring trends, including the ’70s thing and the perennial return of the nautical look. Runway styles come from shops inside the Bellevue Collection: Report, Road, Zebra Club, to name a few.

While we’re not sure that Kate rocks wide-leg flairs or the classic Breton striped shirt, she’s certainly got the eye of the fashion world. Karl Lagerfeld just publicly named her best feature and Brit Vogue‘s editor made recommendations on her wedding dress choice. The current edition of that mag spends a page comparing London’s two favorite Kates, Le Middleton to Le Moss.

Fittingly, a special segment of the Bellevue Collection show is devoted to Miss Middleton’s style—expect loads of posh hats and headpieces along with classic, understated UK prep.

Tickets are $125 and benefit the Tateuchi Center, a downtown Bellevue performing arts center targeted to open in 2014. The show begins at 11; tickets are available at the Act Two Guild website.

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Tags: Bellevue, Seattle Fashion Show, Fundraiser, The Royal Wedding

UPDATED Runway: Zandra Rhodes, The Stranger, FACE, and Trends for Treehouse

Save these dates for upcoming fashion events around town.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Mar 29, 2011 at 08:00AM 2 Comments

Brit designer Zandra Rhodes appears at a spring 11 runway show of her couture looks at Neiman Marcus on April 7; the incricate costumes she designed for Seattle Opera’s Magic Flute will be on display inside the store from April 1 through April 10.

Who says there are never any fashion events in this town? Here are four to put on your calendar now.

EDITED Where: Neiman Marcus

What: Together with the Seattle Opera, the Bravern anchor brings the super-colorful Brit designer Zandra Rhodes to town for a look at the couture looks in her spring ‘11 collection. Ms. Rhodes designed the costumes for the Seattle Opera’s production of the Magic Flute; those pieces will be on display in the store from April 1 through April 10.

When: Thursday, April 7; Seattle Opera is taking reservations for the event. Call 206-676-5568 or visit www.seattleopera.org/zandrarhodesevent for more information.

THERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE TO THIS EVENT Zandra Rhodes will be making a public appearance at Neiman Marcus on Friday, April 8 from 1 to 4. There will not be a runway show, but her spring ‘11 collection will be modeled and on display. This event is free and open to the public. Her costumes for the Opera’s Magic Flute production will still be on display from April 1 through April 10 in the Neiman Marcus windows.

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Where: ACT Theatre

What: The Stranger presents the first annual Worn Out, in which some up-and-coming Seattle designers (some of whom you’ve seen here and here and here) show their stuff.

The weekly paper has asked yours truly to help judge a Vitamin Water–sponsored contest portion of the event, so I’m looking forward to that. At least I think I am.

When: Friday, April 8; tickets are $20 and they’re on sale now.

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Where: Pnk Ultra Lounge

What: This year’s FACE promises all the big city glamor of year’s past—the runway looks are from Barneys, the models are top talent from local agencies, the crowd is exactly the kind you want to be a part of. Of course, the benefactors—homeless and orphaned children in schools built entirely with Seattle dollars in Nepal and India—are exactly the kind you want to be involved with also.

When: Tuesday, April 26; tickets range from $50 to $125 and are available through Brown Paper Tickets.

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Where: Westfield Shopping Center

What: Trends for Treehouse raises funds to provide area foster children with the help and services that they don’t otherwise have access to. The show also puts hot looks from Banana Republic, Escape Outdoors, Gap, The Limited, Macy’s, and more on the runway.

When: Thursday, May 12; tickets are $50

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Tags: Eastside, Seattle Fashion Show, Fundraiser, FACE, Barneys

Fourth Annual “On My Block” Fashion Show

The Fashion Club of Seattle University hosts “The Citizen. The Florist. The Hybrid.”

Posted by: Sarah Hirsch on Mar 01, 2011 at 07:00AM 1 Comments

Photo: Philo Norlund

SLIDESHOW: The Fashion Club of Seattle University presents “On My Block: The Citizen. The Florist. The Hybrid.”

Click through the images to see how the titular archetypes translate to street wear.

View Slideshow » Photo: Philo Norlund

SLIDESHOW: The Fashion Club of Seattle University presents “On My Block: The Citizen. The Florist. The Hybrid.”

Click through the images to see how the titular archetypes translate to street wear.

View Slideshow » Photo: Philo Norlund

The female “citizen.”

View Slideshow » Photo: Philo Norlund

The male “citizen.”

View Slideshow » Photo: Philo Norlund

“The florist.”

View Slideshow » Photo: Philo Norlund

“The hybrid.”

Where: Lee Center for the Arts located at 901 12th Ave

What: The Fashion Club of Seattle University presents its Fourth annual “On My Block” fashion show, subtitled, “The Citizen. The Florist. The Hybrid.” The theme is inspired by ‘modern vertical greenhouses, where seasons, nature, technology, and industry are one.’

View the slideshow for a sneak peak of this year’s looks.

When: Thursday, March 3 at 6.

Tickets can be purchased at Brown Paper Tickets for $12.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Seattle Fashion Show, Seattle Designer

Runway Review: Evo

Big name adventurous types help the outdoor outfitters walk the line for the non-profit Protect Our Winters.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Nov 04, 2010 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

Photo: Michelle Leung

Slideshow: Evo walks the line between form and function; here, a model shows off his highly functioning Nike 6.0 pants.

View Slideshow » Photo: Michelle Leung

Slideshow: Evo walks the line between form and function; here, a model shows off his highly functioning Nike 6.0 pants.

View Slideshow » Photo: Michelle Leung

Jackets and pants by Oakley.

View Slideshow » Photo: Michelle Leung

Jacket and pants by Holden.

View Slideshow » Photo: Michelle Leung

Jacket and pants by Dakine; hat by Oakley.

View Slideshow » Photo: Michelle Leung

Olympic winter athlete Gretchen Bleiler speaks to the crowd about her signature collection with Oakley.

View Slideshow » Photo: Michelle Leung

A view from the top; Evo’s flagship store was transformed for the night of high style adventure gear.

Evo hosted ‘Walk the Line,’ their first annual winter fashion show and benefit event on Friday October 22 at their flagship store in Fremont. As stated in the shop’s invite, ‘The goal of the Johnny Cash-inspired event is to highlight the intersection between fashion and function of technical outerwear.’

Now, we’ve never actually imagined the Man in Black in neon green high-tech snowboard pants but the runway show highlighted all the newest, brightest, boldest, and techiest for the 2010/11 season — from Burton, 686, and Nike 6.0 to Oakley, The North Face, Bonfire, Armada, and Dakine. Check the slideshow here for details.

Pro snowboarder Rob Kingwill presided over all 135 looks, including the opener, Olympic winter athlete Gretchen Bleiler’s Signature Series with Oakley. Bleiler spoke to the crowd briefly about her inspiration behind the collection and the importance of the organic touches that make every piece a knockout in performance and fashion. Reps and designers from all brands showcased as well as Kingwill, Bleiler, and fellow Olympic winter athlete Kelly Clark hosted a question-and-answer portion about the collections following the runway show.

A silent auction, which included great ski/snowboarding packages to Whistler Blackcomb and Stevens Pass as well as gear such as jackets and accessories, went on throughout the night with proceeds channeled directly to the Protect Our Winters (P.O.W) foundation, a nonprofit organization that collaborates with the winter sports community to help reduce climate change.

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Tags: Sports, Seattle Fashion Show

You Were There: Blackbird Fashion Show

A look at last week’s runway show at Discovery Park.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Oct 18, 2010 at 08:15AM 0 Comments

Photo: Adam Sinding

Slideshow: Dark, urban-industrial style in a historic and supremely natural setting.

View Slideshow » Photo: Adam Sinding

Slideshow: Dark, urban-industrial style in a historic and supremely natural setting.

View Slideshow » Photo: Adam Sinding; Le 21eme Arrondissement

A hair and makeup team from Gene Juarez Salons and Spas created the nihilistic narrative for models from Heffner Management.

View Slideshow » Photo: Adam Sinding; Le 21eme Arrondissement

Blackbird presented twenty-odd looks, from American Gothic to Futuristic.

View Slideshow » Photo: Adam Sinding
View Slideshow » Photo: Adam Sinding

Some of the styling put me in the mind of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

View Slideshow » Photo: Adam Sinding
View Slideshow » Photo: Adam Sinding

Where: Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center

What: A mens’ fall/winter 2010 runway presentation of end-days style and industrial-strength pan-global edge by Ballard’s Blackbird. Pieces from Pendleton, Filson, and Woolrich Woolen Mills conspired with ideas by Robert Geller, Diet Butcher Slim Skin, Odyn Vovk, and Lars Andersson in a “gradual progression of genres to show the wide diversity of Blackbird’s labels and its customers,” said Blackbird reps. The event also served as a fundraiser for United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, an organization focused on Native cultural renewal in the Greater Seattle area.

When: Thursday October 7. You missed it? Sorry. That’s what this is all about though. Street style photographer Adam Sinding from Le 21eme Arrondissement shares some shots in the slideshow here; there are more images on Blackbird’s Facebook page and on 21arrondissement.com.

Memo to all and anyone with the desire and means to do something somewhat similar: The hundred-or-so folks in attendance were both thoughtful and psyched about being there. After making our way way out west and north to the the Discovery Park location, we were shuttled over to the Daybreak Center in weird little buses and then shuffled inside only after some semi-dramatic stalling. The journey made the destination more worthwhile. To a person, the attendees (boutique owners, department store buyers, artists, and more than one Style Counsel subject) had the air of someone you’d like to get to know, and they were all saying to whomever was at their immediate right and left, “Why doesn’t this kind of thing happen more often around here?,” which is what people around here always say whenever two or more are gathered at a really good runway show.

Didn’t hurt that the gift bag was pretty epic, too: locally made JonBoy Caramels (get your hands on some of these, they’re off the hook), a Stanley flask, teas from Steven Smith, and lots of other little goodies.

The only let down was that it ended too soon. The lights came on — always the kiss of “Oh, hey, gotta go – nice to see you!” with a crowd like this one — and instead of mixing and mingling, we all made our way to various drinking establishments around town.

The Blackbird show was a private, invite-only event; to get the word on fashion shows and style events around town, keep checking back here, or sign up for our weekly updates.

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Tags: Seattle Fashion Show, Blackbird, Seattle Style Bloggers