Slideshow

We Were There: Product Runway

May 14, 2013

Check out runway looks created by top architecture and design firms for the May 3 Product Runway event at Showbox SoDo.

The team from Callison teamed up with the wall-covering specialists at Tri-Kes to create these origami-like metallic mini dresses.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

We caught them outside the show, too. Don't miss the spaceship ankle platforms; best footwear of the night.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

Architects are engineers; a lot of them want their clothes to do stuff. The team from Perkins + Will, teamed with Maslan Carpets and Rugs, made a fuzzy pod that hatched a full-length split skirt gown.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

Detail of the Perkins + Will look; my fellow jury members and I went over each of the garments the day before the show so that no detail—like this industrial sewing machine needle necklace—would be overlooked.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

The creature imagined by the Freiheit and Ho team, who partnered with Patcraft (another floor covering manufacturer), perfectly fit the show's theme, surrealism.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

A shot of the Freiheit and Ho look outside before the runway.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

See what I mean about theatrics and drama? The Freiheit and Ho makeup direction was stunning.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

LMN was paired with Pental, a tile company. The cape was made with a fabric-like membrane that goes under tile; the gorgeous Joan of Arc-like suit inside was constructed with something like 4,000 hand shaped scale-like mini-tiles.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

Again, the makeup was fantastic.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

During our prejudging rounds we were able to learn more about how each team used the materials available to them. LMN really took a couture angle on their garment, and it earned them the top prize.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

The glass vertebrae spine clinched it.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

This look, by Interior Architects and Teknion/OM Workspace (who make office furniture), felt like something out of Blade Runner or The Matrix.

The theatrical element was coaxed by the team's model, too.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

Come to think of it, it's a little Edward Scissorhands, too.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

The JPC team was allied with KI, an office furnishings company. They created a pod-like cape ...

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

That revealed a sort of Venus flytrap dress.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

Designers at IIDA and the textile gurus at Knoll/Spinnybeck sent out a Pantone-esque Spanish-feeling ballgown that created all sorts of movement on the runway.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

A look at that gown outside the venue before the show.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

Any clothing designer will tell you that menswear is master's art. The architects and designers at ASID and Interface took industrial membrane—which, in my investigations, did not look like a forgiving fabric—and managed to create an extremely well-fitting, and sexy, menswear look.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

MulvannyG2 teamed with United Tile for this study of electricity, fire, light, and water.

A look at the process that shaped the design.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

This gown by Weber Thompson and Bank & Office Interiors was a gauzy dream.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

Zero Landfill isn't an architecture firm per se; from their website, "Zero Landfill enriches the community while providing a solution to what is considered waste. Interior designers and architects have expired specification samples. Artists and educators have material needs for artwork and classroom projects.

Photography by Ernie Sapiro

And from the front.

Okay, so. Want to know who took Second and Third places?

I absolutely loved this view of Gensler and Haworth Office Furniture's 3-D woodland frock.

Second place was given to Perkins + Will and Maslan Carpets and Rugs.

Third place went to Freiheit and Ho and their industry partner.

The winning team.

And the winning crowd.

On Friday, May 3 at Showbox SoDo Seattle's top architecture and design firms gathered for this year's Product Runway showcase and competed for top honors in a contest that combines Project Runway with Iron Chef (more or less) for a night of unusual materials and runway finery. More ...

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