Back in May 2017, some 21 emerging designers strutted their stuff down the runway at Fashion Week San Diego’s Spring Showcase. Slated for Oct. 4-8, San Diego’s premiere fashion experience culminates with runway shows and events dedicated to those 21 designers, the industry and all of its supporters. The Spring Showcase is a precursor to fall’s Fashion Week main events, which founder and director Allison Andrews says is akin to listening to a Broadway soundtrack before you catch the show live. It prepares you for what you’re going to see, and makes your favorite parts even more exciting. But even if you missed the Spring Showcase, FWSD17 has plenty to keep you on the edge of your seat. “Past, Present and Future” is a poignant theme for the 10th anniversary, which presents extra-special events, big name appearances and the return of previous Fashion Award winners for a bit of reflection. One day before the regular kick-off, FWSD presents an exclusive film screening and VIP party at The LOT in La Jolla. Red Pearl, the endearing tale of a designer fresh out of fashion school in Columbus, Ohio trying to make a new life for herself out west, features appearances from former Project Runway stars such as season eight runner-up Mondo Guerra. FWSD17 designers will be at the screening and VIP party to mix and mingle with fans over drinks and appetizers, offering an opportunity to get up close and personal with your favorite designers before catching their collections later in the weekend. The next night, Art & Beauty Behind Fashion takes over the Andaz hotel downtown with FWSD’s traditional homage to the beauty industry’s undeniable impact on the world of fashion. “We couldn’t do fashion without hair and makeup,” Andrews says of the importance of this signature event. Including art rounds out the visual stimulation, which Andrews promises will be over the top. Art & Beauty Behind Fashion centers on a fashion show dedicated to hair and makeup with artistry from Detour Salon, but will also include art from Shane Bowden and Stefanie Bales, and a special artistic performance by circus tumblers. In past years, big names like Eden Sassoon and Ted Gibson have been special guests at this event, but at the time of print, Andrews would not reveal her special guests for 2017.
Twenty-one designers—including the return of Fashion Award winners from every FWSD since 2012, new womenswear and menswear designers, couture lines, swimwear and even a dog apparel brand—will each present 10 pieces from their 2018 Spring/Summer collections during back-to-back nights of runway shows at Broadway Pier Oct. 6-7. Honoring this year’s theme, former Fashion Week fan favorites are back with all-new looks, including RHCREATION’s elegant resort wear, couture from Marcie Bain’s B.JASH.I label, and a demonstration of how the same design can work beautifully on different forms with a side-by-side of full-figured and standard women’s fashion from A’doreus. A’doreus debuted a plus-size collection in 2012, which Andrews says made Fashion Week San Diego the first fashion week ever to include a full-figured selection. As for the present and future part of this year’s fashion week, designer Miriam Baza is using FWSD17 to launch Baza, her line of custom and handmade haute couture dresses. Also new this year are collections from jewelry maker Alber Rezko; the east-meets-west “TAJ” collection from Haus of K2; ready-to-wear and custom knitwear from Taylor Whipp; and The Stylish Bisou’s modern collection of dog apparel and coordinating womenswear. HOLA Swimwear, Hulabelle Swimwear, I Am Sublime, Isabel Vianey, Jamie Wooning, Kheir Sannai, Oseas Villatoro, RACA Designs, Saul Lizacri, Territa Torres, They & Them, VaughnBerry and Wafa By Wafa complete the list of presenting designers. If you like what you see on the runway, don’t miss the trunk show on Sunday, Oct. 8 at the Hotel del Coronado, where you can view and shop all the labels and collections from the previous two evenings, as well as wares from other FWSD vendors and partners. Designers will display pieces straight from the runway and additional looks from their Spring/Summer collection. Stick around for the Annual Fashion Awards to see if your favorite designers will be honored. As if a “Past, Present and Future” Fashion Week wasn’t exhilarating enough, Andrews emphasizes how this significant milestone has made her and her team extremely reflective, which led to a special anniversary gift to fashion fans. VIP and general admission passes to FWSD17 are being priced at the original cost from the very first Fashion Week San Diego. Visit fashionweeksd.com for more details.
656 Photography
b
Clockwise from above: Fashion Week San Diego (FWSD) models ready to go to work; FWSD model Amara Carey; FWSD model Luz Lopez.
14 SOCALPULSE.COM FALL 2017
14-15_Feature 1_WSD.indd 14
8/4/17 1:32 PM