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DCFASHIONWEEK: Planete Chic Fall 2010 from The Urban Feed on Vimeo.

Planete Chic presented a luxurious show featuring designers Tatjana Tatalovic, Artemiza Cruz, and Ruben Gonzales at The Cultural Institute of Mexico as they showed off their Fall/Winter 2010 Collections.

Artemiza Cruz’s collection is called The LaVill. Her color trend for this collection was warm colors such as blacks and greys. One of the favorite pieces shown at DC Fashion Week was the zipper front black mini dress. Cruz uses great use of textures in shapes in her clothing. Her designs for her Fall/ Winter Collection is catered to the young, fashionable city woman.

Tatjana Tatalovic’s TATA collection was said to be the best line of the night. There was a point in her collection where it was all black, which is very sophisticated and chic. She utilizes shapes in a way that is flattering to a woman’s body. As her collection transitioned, we see a good use of color that is season appropriate such as magenta. The TATA Collection is very wearable and most importantly fashion forward for the modern woman.

The last collection was by Argentinian designer Ruben Gonzales. Mr. Gonzales’s collection was very classically styled, very different from the previous collections by LaVill and TATA. His clothing was contemporary with a hint of a modern twist. There were many beautifully crafted gowns that walked the runway in colors such as reds, golds, and also black. The Ruben Gonzales Collection for Fall 2010 is perfect for a night out a formal event.

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12th International Couture Show: A Night of Glam and Fashion

The 12th International Couture Show took place Sunday February 21st at the Embassy of France to conclude DC Fashion Week. The show included designs from Cameron Gray, Corjor International Couture, Destiny’s Creations & Designs, Elizabeth St. John, Heydari, House of Jola, Kalaa, and Van Maele.

The first collection of the evening was by Destiny’s Creations & Designs. Designer Cynthia incorporated a strong use of color in her collections. There were many pieces with jersey material that fit each model to a tee. Destiny’s Creations also displayed many pieces with brocade. The designer was able to make modern, everyday wear from the material adding a new touch to that particular material.

House of Jola was another collection that demonstrated great use of color. Oranges, greens, and reds were colors used repeatedly in the collection. This designer also used many animal prints. It was clear that the inspiration came from the designer’s native country of Nigeria. She tastefully put together garments that told a story, it was almost as if we could see exactly what she was thinking when designing each piece.

One of the most sophisticated collections of the evening was the Kalaa Collection. Kalaa is a clothing line based out of New York City. It was a pleasant surprise to see that this collection was geared towards the working woman. Pieces such as pencil skirts, trousers, and blazers walked the runway. Kalaa put a very youthful, fashionable edge to simple business attire. The materials were rich, and there was good use of color. Kalaa did not stick to the traditional black and navy blue trend. This collection reminded women there is now flexibility when it comes to dressing for the workplace that allows their style to shine.

A new designer by the name of Cameron Gray displayed her collection that night as well. Her line was a complete turnaround from what was previously witnessed on the runway. Gray’s collection was funky and young. It seemed more suitable for young adults between the ages of 18 to 25. The pieces were outfits one may where out for a night out on the town. Colors that were consistently used in the Cameron Gray line were grey and black with accents of bright colors such as neon pinks and blues. Overall it was a fresh addition to the designer line up giving the audience a chance to see different spectrums of what is in right now.

The collection that stirred up the most noise was Elizabeth St. John. This collection was a line of wedding dresses. Each of the dresses had something distinctively different about them. Coming from both contemporary and modern inspiration, the crowd was able to see an array of different style of dresses for that special day. The beautifully constructed gowns had new twists to the most common simple white gown that most are used to seeing walk down the isle. We witnessed dresses with polka dots, black ribbon waist, and mid length dresses. Overall, many could appreciate the different take on what the wedding dress is today.

photo credit: Naomie Payen
Kiera A. Manison
Fashion Editor
The Urban Feed

Popularity: 6% [?]

DC FASHION WEEK: THE NATION’S CAPITOL ON THE RUNWAY

Oh what a week DC FASHION WEEK was! The week was filled with amazing events, people, and of course the beautiful clothing. The entire week was coordinated by the Executive Director/Producer Ean Williams and an amazing staff of people and volunteers. The week kicked off with The Eco Fashion Show/Meet and Greet at the Textile Museum. At the Textile Museum the DC Fashion Week Models strutted around the gallery showing off Eco friendly threads. Wednesday a production by Planete Chic featured collections by designers Tatjana Tatalovic, Artemiza Cruz, and Ruben Gonzales. Each designer showed essential pieces from their Fall/Winter 2010 Collections.

On Thursday, the Fashion Networking Event took place at the Mie N Yu Restaurant located on Historic Georgetown’s infamous M Street. Many fashion industry and Washington, D.C elite gathered at the venue to mix and mingle and of course network. This was a great opportunity not only for designers and models, but for media outlets and public relation firms around the city. This event was a perfect way to get ready for the last two shows of the week: The Washington Menswear Collection and the 12th International Couture Collection.

Appearing at the Washington Menswear Collection Show, were many media outlets and fashion conscience men and woman who witnessed the designs of DURKL, Stella Bonds, Emore J Couture, Kustom Looks Clothier, Ray Vincente, and Andrew Nowell Menswear. All five collections were definitely different from each other which gave the audience a chance to see the diversity in menswear. Also at the show, featured artist, Etcetera performed, making the show more exciting and most definitely eventful.
On Sunday, DC Fashion week wrapped up with The 12th International Couture Fashion Show. The show featured designers such as Cameron Gray, Corjor International Couture, Destiny’s Creations and Designs, Elizabeth St. John, Heydari, House of Jola, Kalaa, Saman Zar, and Van Maele. The event was hosted at the Embassy of France.

Overall DC Fashion week was a definite success. The venues were great and so was the clothing. The weeklong event‘s gave the opportunity for Washington to show itself off as fashionable city that are home to not only Politics, but Fashion as well.

DC Fashion Week is a partnership of independent fashion designers, producers and models and was created to increase economic development in the area of fashion design, clothing merchandising and modeling, and to enhance the visibility of the nation’s capital as a center of international fashion .

photo credit: Naomi Payen

Kiera A. Manison
Fashion Editor
The Urban Feed

Popularity: 7% [?]

This high profile show featured Collections from DURKL, Stella Bonds, Emore J Couture, Kustom Looks Clothier, Ray Vincente, and Andrew Nowell Menswear.

The show opened up with the DURKL Collection. Designer Lucas Pierce showed only 5 pieces, but it was definitely enough to see how amazingly fashion forward his line was. The collection featured mostly pastel colors that I have a feeling will be the new trend for spring and summer 2010 for men.  It was definitely a fun and relaxed spin on clothing. If you’re looking for a chic way to do urban street wear, DURKL is the brand for you.

Next up on the runway was designs from Stella Bonds. It was a shocker when the male models hit the runway with very small tight spandex Speedos.  Stella Bonds shared a portion of her swimwear collection which seemed to be rather pleasing to the audience at the Doubletree Hotel that night. The collection consisted of many bright, vibrant colors that would make anyone forget about the mounds of snow and ice outside and think of being on a warm beach in the Caribbean. Although, the colorful patterned Speedos were the main attraction for Stella’s line, she had more to offer. She also displayed some sleepwear pieces, which were unusually matched with newspaper hats. Stella Bonds showed DC she has crazy, fun, and unique style.

The show got even more interesting when Emore J Couture hit the stage. First thing that comes to mind while viewing this collection is Futuristic and Dark. “My inspiration for this collection was dark, edgy, and abstract, says Emore J Couture. It is a story of how we are detached from the world, for example, the fact that we would rather text all day than to have a short conversation with our own mothers.” Another element that was very interesting about the collection was the female detailing to the designs. Although this was indeed a line of clothing made for men, we saw jumpers, tights, and other female aspects of clothing that we never see the average man wearing. Overall, this collection was very thoughtful and unique but it was not realistically wearable.

Following the Emore J Couture Collection, the tone of the show changed to sophisticated and clean cut clothing with designs by Kustom Looks Clothier. This collection was definitely catered to the tailored man. This line consisted of many tailored suits and dress coats. The best pieces of the collection were the double breasted suits. Double breasted is not always the easiest thing to pull off but Kwab Asamoah proved himself that he knows exactly how to dress men of all shapes and sizes. “I make clothes to fit the particular man who will be wearing the suit, when it comes to men’s clothing it is all about having fun, but most important, tailoring,” said Asamoah.

The last two designers of the evening were Ray Vincente and Andrew Noel. Both designers’s collections were hands down the most classy and urban chic of the night.  In Ray Vincente’s collection we saw different uses of the classic hounds tooth and big scarves. What stood out the most about his collection was the Pocket Dress Pant. The dress pants consisted of pockets on the side, that resembled that of cargo pants, but they still never lost the class and quality of the clothing. “Although menswear will probably never be as big as womenswear, it is still equally important, “says Ray Vincente. The last line for the Menswear Collection was Andrew Noel, who closed the show in an also very classy manner.  What was most appreciated by his collection was the quality of his work and his material. It was evident that he is a seasoned designer who knows how to dress the modern, urban business man.

Overall, The Washington Menswear Collection was a great show, displaying a diverse craft of clothing with a story to tell. For more of the designers work and information visit www.dcfashionweek.org.
Check out pictures below:

photo credit: Naomi Payen

Kiera A. Manison
Fashion Editor
The Urban Feed

Popularity: 6% [?]

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