Forte Fashion Show

Okay, I get invitations to many fashion shows by emerging and lesser known designers and often I don't have the time to attend. But as a Project Runway fan when I heard that Kenley Collins from Season 5 -the girl you hated to love or loved to hate- was going to be showing her collection I decided to attend this event...because after all, who doesn't want to "watch what happens" after the show is over? That being said, Kenley was one of four designers who showed their work that evening.

Kenley's collection was the first down the runway. Inspired by the 1940s and Amelia Earhart the collection was fun and flirty with fabrics that moved with the models. Waists were cinched with skinny belts and the emphasis was on shorter, fuller skirts that had a girlish quality. One of my favorites was a dress made with a black and white striped fabric. The stripes changed from moving horizontally on the top (which also has a beautiful fullness in the sleeves) to on a diagonal on the bottom. It is this sort of attention to detail she showed throughout her collection that made it stand out.

The next collection, by Sheila Frank, was a study in greys and blues. At one time Ms. Frank had an internship with Charlotte Ronson and although her work isn't the same it feels as though it's created for a similar clientele: the hip downtown girl who is cool and confident in who she is. She had a great utilitarian romper with large silver snaps down the front and brocade detailing. This brocade was also seen in a cropped tailored jacket. It was a cohesive collection for spring and summer in the city.


Elizabeth Rynish's dresses are a mash up of the 60s. The cuts reference the ladylike first half of the decade but the vivid colors and swirling prints are suited for the "free love" or latter part of the decade. And yet somehow it works brilliantly. In addition to being a designer Ms. Rynish creates textiles and she created these for her collection. The colors are rich with great tonal variety and the dresses feel like wearable works of art: because even though they are pretty as a picture you still feel the woman is wearing the dress, not overwhelmed by it.

Marissa Erskine's label is RisSa and this collection was inspired by butterfly, cocoon and tulip silhouettes. It was filled with delicate fabrics and colors and beautifully executed. The attention to detail was flawless and each look seemed to balance at an intersection of delicate femininity and sophistication.

Overall I was impressed with the designers and with the event itself. The show was emceed by Sinsu Co and was a benefit for Gilda's Club NYC presented by SEAM COLLECTIVE an organization dedicated to aiding female designers break into the fashion industry. An excellent event for a worthy cause full of inspiring clothes...what more could you ask for?

The Academy of Art University Spring 2010 Show

This show has become one of my favorite as they are all emerging designers and so there is no preconceptions about the work...except that if it's in this show it's damn good. This spring was no exception:seven MFA students showed their collections in the tents. They varied a great deal in content but the quality of the work was excellent. Two of my favorites were the collections of Richelle Valenzuela and Brittney Major.























Richelle's collection was finely cut layers of silk and satin-faced organza constructed to reflect the facets of a gem. The effect was an intriguing blend of architectural precision and softness.






















I'm not going to lie: I am not a fan of preppy nor the south. So I was a bit skeptical when I read that one of the designers, Brittney Major, was inspired by both. That being said there was something remarkably vital about her collection. A bold use of color and fearlessness about mixing her plaids has created an urbane preppy that feels simultaneously nostalgic and au courant. A hard feat to pull off that she manages exceptionally well.

The other five students Marina Nikolaeva Popska, Kara Sennett, Amanda Cleary, Jie Pan and Sawanya Jomthepmala had strong collections as well. As always when I leave the AAU show I look forward to seeing the future collections of these bright new talents.

Iran Inside Out at the Chelsea Art Museum- Until 9/6

Recently I attended a Gen Art reception for the show Iran Inside Out at the Chelsea Art Museum. To be honest I usually attend these events for free drinks and to socialize. Not because I don’t love art, but because much of what passes for art are pieces that are highly conceptual but poorly rendered or have great craftsmanship but nothing more. So it was a wonderful surprise to view an exhibition with such complexity and timeliness of the work on both a pop art, fine art and political commentary level. Thus the reason I’m writing a musing about this is because I loved it. Since it runs until September 6^th I encourage anyone who hasn’t seen it to check it out. Iran Inside Out is the 2^nd of 3 exhibits in a series dealing with East/West. (The final one will be about the Berlin Wall and it's fall)Meant to be commemorating the 30^th anniversary of the revolution, it has been made all the more potent by the spontaneous protests that erupted at the same time and continually potentially undermine the current regime. The 56 artists in the exhibition represent the younger generation of Iranian artists both from within and outside of Iran, and the exhibit is divided into five sections which touch on current cultural interests and obsessions with names such as “From Iran to Queeran and Everything in Between” and “In Search of the Axis of Evil: On War and Politics”. I had the good fortune of meeting Hanna Azemati, who volunteers for the museum and offered me a personal tour explaining discussing works with me while offering up cultural trivia. (One note of interest: homosexuality is illegal in Iran yet they offer 6,000 sex change permits per year because they believe they are “fixing” gay people.)



I obviously can’t cover all the works but here are a select few that I really liked: Shopping Malls of Tehran by Saghar Daeeri (image Courtesy of the Artist and Aaran Gallery, Tehran). Reminiscent stylistically of Otto Dix, it shows the highly exaggerated to the point of vulgarity expression of femininity such as the long nails and highly arched eyebrows that are the result of women’s overcompensating for being forbidden from expressing their femininity in the public sphere.

Oil Barrels by Shiva Ahmadi (image Oil Barrel #6 Oil on steel, Courtesy of Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery) is another work that I really responded to. Using actual oil barrels, Ahmadi decorated them in a traditional style based on Persian miniature paintings. She then proceeded to gouge holes into them creating bullet like wounds and painting headless horses at war with one another bleeding out of them. The effect is both beautiful and grotesque.






I was initially attracted to this sculpture because of its colors and shape. Entitled SmartFilter2, Twice As Bad by Pooneh Maghazehe, it is made out of gold elastic and 1000 o.b. brand tampons. The use of the tampons as a material would make it “morally unsuitable” for public view in Iran. Nevertheless the material was used more for the materiality than to make a feminist statement. It attempts to grapple with the issues of institutional power, censorship and conformity by specific color coding related to censorship on the internet in Iran.

These are just a few of the works in the show. In addition to the exhibition there will be a Contemporary ballet performance by Cedar Lake with live music performed by Reza Derakshani
on September 1-3 at 7:30 pm and an open rehearsal prior on August 27^th from 6-8 pm.
The description from the website:
A spectacular contemporary ballet performance by Cedar Lake based on Iran Inside Out. Artistic Director Benoit-Swan Pouffer creates a new performance experience interpreting the artworks exhibited in Iran Inside Out. Using the visual artworks as points of inspiration, the collaboration will incorporate movement, art and live music by Iranian visual and performance artist Reza Derakshani, whose paintings are also included in the Iran Inside Out exhibition. Cedar Lake is a contemporary ballet company dedicated to the development of dance by providing choreographers a comprehensive environment for creation.